Ms Colette Bennett:

We were not talking about means-testing when we debated this earlier in the year. When the first universal credit payment came out, we and others had those discussions. The response was that it had to be done very quickly and that there was no time to target these payments. We were told we were in an emergency and the State did what it did because it was expedient to do it. That was fine for what it was but seven months later, that does not wash. There are instruments of the State, such as Revenue and the Department of Social Protection, that can identify households and individuals who need these payments. They can also identify, through the local property tax and other mechanisms, those who do not have such need, including those who have a second property for which they are also receiving the household energy credit. There certainly were ways to do this available to the Government.