I wish also to raise an issue affecting older people but not only older people. I refer to the unconscionably high increases in ESB and gas prices. Gas prices have increased by 33.8% from 1 October, in a country where, according to the report by Deloitte & Touche on regulation of the electricity sector, almost one in five Irish people is defined as fuel-poor. The Taoiseach can imagine the impact that a 34% increase in gas prices will have on older people, social welfare recipients, people with disability pensions and people on low incomes who do not receive any social welfare payment.

To coincide with this increase on the same day, 1 October, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Brennan, issued a formal statement to the effect that the value of the weekly fuel allowance under the national fuel scheme has been increased by €5, from €9 to €14, with a supplement of €3.90 on top of that for smokeless fuel. It is not unusual for Ministers to issue statements that are either incapable of being understood or that obfuscate or confuse. That is a cruelly dishonest statement because that €5 increase was announced in the budget last year. If one is accustomed to reading to the end of documents and does so one will pick that up.

The Deputy should read the full statement.

It gets worse.

This €5 increase was announced last year in the budget. Unfortunate older people in fear for their health, living in poor, damp circumstances with inadequate heating and fearful of how they can survive a difficult winter receive a statement to the effect that their fuel allowance has been increased by €5.

Is the Taoiseach happy with a situation whereby outrageous, disproportionate price increases are permitted in order to increase profits in the energy sector to attract in new entrants in order to provide competition to keep prices down? That is the argument. In order to keep prices down we must let them rip up to 34% in gas, and in electricity to 19.4% for domestic use, 19.6% for small and medium enterprises and 21% for large companies. That is the official position. The argument made by the ESB and the gas company is that we must let profits rip to attract new entrants.

This country has gone mad on ideological competition. The authority set up to police it does not do its job. It is great at lecturing and hectoring and so on but when did it intervene to have a major hit against any of the collusive and other activity of significant players in this marketplace? This is becoming an intolerably high-priced environment and older people and social welfare recipients are the ones at the bottom of the ladder who will suffer most.

Deputy Rabbitte quoted parts of the Minister's statement. The Minister, however, went on to point out that he was increasing the number of units to assist the over 600,000 people who would be severely affected by the large increases in energy costs. These increases, mainly due to the price increase of gas from Russia, have been internationally imposed. Ireland imports 86% of its gas indirectly from Russia which contributes to a large part to our energy generation. The Minister increased the number of units that 630,000 people get free from 1,800 to 2,004. This is the calculation that will ensure they will be fully protected from the recent increases.

An increase of 34%.

The Minister did not announce those increases in the last budget but several weeks ago when it became clear the regulator, the legislation for which Deputy Rabbitte's party supported——

I suppose I am responsible for this too.

Deputy Rabbitte is the Minister responsible for everything.

Deputy Rabbitte is not. It is not my role to defend the ESB or Bord Gáis Éireann, but the Deputy should be fair and at least give the factual position. BGE made a profit of €90 million last year, an increase in its profit from the previous year despite growing sales of €100 million. The CER allows BGE to make a margin of 1.3% on its gas sales, a very small percentage.

That is very small all right.

Up to 86% of our gas comes from the UK. If BGE does not receive a price increase to reflect the increase in the UK wholesale price of gas, it would have a €50 million negative impact on BGE's profit next year, over half of its annual profits from this year.

It was free a few weeks ago.

Why? It was free last week.

We should contact Shell or even the Russians.

If I am being asked to undermine BGE and the ESB and damage the staff in both organisations, then let us be honest and say so.

This sounds like bluster.

BGE has a debt of €1.2 billion which is the subject of strict price covenants. Breaching those covenants or downgrading BGE's credit rating would lead to large penalties and difficulties for the company. We must be honest in this argument.

This is all hot air.

International energy costs have risen sharply. We have protected old people from them.

The Government has not.

Allow the Taoiseach to reply without interruption.

We have to allow BGE and the ESB to be protected as companies. The Government is not going to undermine either but we will protect old people, which we have done.

Why are the prices not coming down?

Building standards are a disgrace.

What about small businesses that will be affected?

The Taoiseach frequently says things that are not in accordance with fact. It is part of his style. To say the €5 increase in fuel allowance was not announced in the last budget——

The Taoiseach did not say that.

He is bluffing.

This is the oldest trick in the book.

I have a reply to a parliamentary question from May which states budget 2006 provided for an increase in the rate of the fuel allowance of €5——

This is misrepresentation.

He is bluffing.

This is only bluff.

What is the point then if it was announced in last year's budget?

Deputy Rabbitte is bluffing.

It was announced in budget 2006.

The Deputy is only bluffing.

Allow Deputy Rabbitte to speak without interruption.

I am referring to the fuel allowance. It is a deliberate attempt to mislead.

Come off it.

I see a hissy fit coming on.

Deputy McDowell would know about that.

Allow Deputy Rabbitte to speak without interruption.

Deputy Rabbitte to continue without interruption.

If anyone in the House is going to talk about hissy fits, I would have thought the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is best qualified to advise us on them.

Deputy McDowell knows what happens when one lies down with dogs.

Deputy Jim O'Keeffe would know too.

However, we have survived it for the moment and we are very happy about that.

We more than survived it.

We are more than happy.

On the Taoiseach's argument about internationally imposed energy costs, since these increases were announced, energy prices have begun to fall. There is no capacity, as the regulator operates, for more than an annual review. Despite falling energy costs, these punitive increases of 34% will continue to apply. Meanwhile, there is an attempt to create an artificially competitive market in the electricity sector. Some small businesses are threatened with going out of operation as a result of the 19.6% increase that will apply to them.

The Deputy's time has concluded.

What steps does the Government intend to take to address the issue raised by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, among others? It pointed out that a disproportionate share of the budget available to it will go towards helping older people and those on social welfare payments of various kinds to pay gas and electricity bills. Following on the other increases in electricity and gas prices in recent times——

Deputy Rabbitte, your time has concluded.

——I do not believe an individual with an income similar to that of the Taoiseach, or for that matter mine, can understand the impact the scale of a 34% increase will have on social welfare recipients and older people. The provision announced by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs is entirely inadequate in these circumstances. There ought to be a Government response——

I ask Deputy Rabbitte to give way to the Taoiseach.

——to the arguments presented by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

There were no great increases in social welfare under de Rossa, which were the lowest in 30 years. He did a proper job.

In every one of its budgets, this Government has helped the less well-off significantly and over the rate of inflation.

Hear, hear.

In the past two budgets, the Minister for Finance gave exceptionally large increases to those on social welfare payments to bring them to a level discussed at the partnership talks. It is our position to continue this. For the over 630,000 people who are vulnerable and include the elderly, rather than wait until the budget we moved immediately to protect them on the calculation given by the regulator for gas and electricity increases.

Obviously, pension issues arise in the budget. Deputy Rabbitte is correct that the regulator makes a decision once a year. From the mid 1980s until 2002, there was only one increase in energy costs. The current system is that the regulator examines it over a year, based on the projections and accounts of BGE and the ESB. There are pluses and minuses to such a system. In the UK there were 13 price increases this year while we had one. In comparison to the UK, Npower increased prices by 30.8%, Scottish Power averaged 34.6% and Powergen, 24.4%.

It is still cheaper than ours.

It must be due to the special Scottish-Russian relationship.

Why is the Taoiseach reading this out?

BGE's dependence on gas imported from the UK is over 86% of national requirement. It is, therefore, not possible for us to keep prices lower than the UK wholesale price.

It was bought for nothing last year.

Perhaps with the Corrib gasfield, we might change that.

The Taoiseach must be joking.

Shut up. Where is the protest and he can go off and follow it.

The Taoiseach without interruption.

The Taoiseach must be joking about that.

Here comes the twilight zone.

In the meantime, we must face the reality that we are importing most of our gas. If we had it ourselves, it would be different.

The Government recognises that the Deloitte & Touche report which we recently published points to the need for an in-depth examination of electricity providers and of the dynamics of the electricity sector. We have stated that we recognise the fundamental role played by the ESB and that we will continue to protect that, as set out in the recently published Green Paper.

The Government receives an annual dividend of €70 million from ESB and that money goes straight into its coffers.