Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As for the options that are considered for dealing with energy poverty, a lot of work went into this before the budget. These were the discussions and calculations that took place to try to find who in the population needs the payment most, the best way to target it and the most efficient way to get that money out there. There was a range of things that went beyond the traditional measures such as increasing the fuel allowance by a number of euro. There was also an attempt to target people through the living alone allowance. Older people who are living alone have much more difficulty heating their homes than those who have a number of people in their household. That type of targeting exercise and options had been considered right up to the budget.

On the toolbox, it is recommended. It is not mandatory. It provides a suite of options to reduce suffering and people living in energy poverty during the winter. We have taken the best of what we could do and brought it in as quickly as possible. With the co-operation of the Opposition, I think we can get it into people's homes within the first three months of next year.

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