Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

That does not address the issue at all. The winter fuel allowance which normally operates from October to April will expire; it is a standard fuel allowance which is available throughout the winter. Many families and, in particular, elderly people, who are more prone to the cold than others, will know that the end of April is not the appropriate time to end the scheme. If we have the kind of summer we had last year, many elderly people will have recourse to heating during the summer period.

The Minister for Finance promised an additional allowance specifically for low income families. He said it would be a vouched allowance but never spelled out what kind of vouched allowance it would be. There was to be a specific allowance to protect low income households from the impact of the carbon levy. This levy will increase the price of heating oil by 8.7% which, as I pointed out, comes on top of increases in the price of oil over the past year. It will present an additional hardship for people whose social welfare payments were cut by the Government in the budget and who had an additional cut in their payments as a result of the abolition of the Christmas bonus. They are now facing additional fuel costs because of the introduction of the carbon levy.

The Minister, Deputy Mary Hanafin, who is sitting beside the Taoiseach and is prompting his reply, promised Deputy Shortall last February that this scheme would be in place before the carbon levy was introduced. It will come into effect on Saturday. Will the allowance be in place by Saturday or will the Taoiseach postpone the introduction of the carbon levy until it is in place, in line with the commitment made by the Minster, Deputy Hanafin, when she held the social and family affairs portfolio?

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