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

I thank the Deputy. The scheme announced this morning is now open for applications through the agencies. I will have to double check to be certain, but I think food processing should be covered under the scheme because it is the manufacture of food products and most of our food is exported, so I anticipate that the companies to which the Deputy refers could apply under the scheme. They would have to demonstrate that their energy bills constitute a significant amount of their turnover and that their profits are down. This may be an option for some of them.

I need to be frank with the House, however. We are not going to be in a position to cover fully the cost of increases in electricity bills for business, no more than we can do it for households. There are limitations on the budget even though the economy is going well. We know the effect of unlimited price promises across the water. We are not going to do that. We are not going to be able to cover fully the increased cost, unfortunately. In addition, we are covered by EU temporary crisis framework state aid rules. They are there for good reasons, namely, to protect the taxpayer and to ensure that different countries do not engage in unfair competition.

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