John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

An idea that came up this morning about fuel allowance concerned the State or local authorities getting involved. In South Dublin County Council, there are 10,000 housing social homes. If the State got involved in the bulk purchase of energy for those homes, such as gas and electricity, it could result in a significant reduction in energy costs and offset the need to provide any kind of fuel allowance.

Similarly, one of the suggestions that would also have a very wide-ranging impact would be if the State or local authorities got involved in the bulk purchase and procurement of retrofitting services. I know that I am straying into the area of climate action, but I welcome the Minister’s response and, in particular, his awareness of the emerging issues regarding the need for equality budgeting and the fact that while the latter was initially limited to gender, the situation relating to it is organic and evolving.

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