Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not have data on stop requests but I will find out the position. I am interested to know myself. I will find out and pass the information on to the Deputy.

We are not going to rule out using maximum price orders, but I am conscious of what has happened in the UK. One can impose a maximum price order on the electricity or fuel retailer but the latter still needs to get the fuel from somewhere else. Retailers still have to pay the international wholesale price. If the fuel retailer buys a barrel of oil or canister of gas for a certain amount and we have a price that is lower than that amount, what happens then? The company goes bust. In the UK, where there is a system of maximum price orders, we are now seeing energy companies going bust, because they are not able to offer energy at that price, and looking for a bailout from the state. That is not necessarily an example to follow but it is certainly not something we will rule out. That is the problem with a maximum price order - ultimately, it is the wholesale international price of oil and coal gas that determines what consumers have to pay.

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