I respectfully ask the Taoiseach to look at the decision to stop elderly people from getting a grant to replace a stove, range or oil burner that has broken down. Since 1 December last, this grant has no longer been available to elderly people, the people who worked to put this country on its feet through the decades of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. These people are being denied a grant. Councillor Johnny Healy-Rae, a councillor of 14 years' standing, raised this at Kerry County Council last week and he was told the Department had stopped this grant since 1 December 2024. I am asking the Taoiseach respectfully to restore that grant to these people. What difference is it going to make to have a little fire?

Thank you, Deputy. You have asked the question of the Taoiseach.

What difference is that going to make to the climate, when we have bombs going off all around us in Gaza and Ukraine, and satellites and vehicles going to the moon?

I ask you to be fair to your colleagues.

I am sorry but I am very exercised about this. We have planes in the sky and all kinds of emissions but we want to stop little old people from having a fire to heat themselves.

Deputy, you have taken almost double your time. Be fair to your colleagues.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I understand from a certain perspective why the Deputy is concerned about it. My understanding is that it stems from an EU directive in respect of grants for fossil fuels essentially, for installations that have a fossil fuel dimension. However, I will examine it. I understand there is some leeway in terms of purchasing second-hand boilers and so forth, but that is not responding to the totality of what the Deputy has said. I will have it examined to see what can be done, if anything can be done, but there is an EU directive, which governs all of this.