It is nearly a month into this crisis and the Government is finally acting but the measures announced today do not go far enough. A temporary cut to excise duty to provide some relief at the pumps is long overdue but where are the targeted supports for those who need them most?

The Government, having spent weeks and weeks reviewing the situation, has come into this House and done the bare minimum. It is extending the fuel allowance for a few weeks but it barely scratches the surface of what is required to support people who are struggling the most. There is almost nothing in this package for low-income households who are reliant on home heating oil and unable to pay the 80% spike in prices. The Government seems to think that it does not have to help because we are now in March, but people must still heat their homes in spring, and there are vulnerable people all over the country who cannot now afford to turn their heating on, including elderly people, sitting in freezing cold homes, whose pensions just will not stretch far enough, disabled people, whose incomes were already cut by €1,400 in the Government's budget, and are making choices between heating and eating, and families at breaking point who do not know how they will be able to keep the lights on.

The Social Democrats have repeatedly asked the Government to introduce a targeted €400 energy credit that would be paid to 800,000 households who are struggling the most. The Taoiseach said again that we need targeted and affordable measures. This is a targeted and an affordable measure. This would help hundreds of thousands of low-paid workers who do not receive the fuel allowance and it would provide a much greater level of support for pensioners, carers and disabled people. It would not go far enough to cover the spiralling price rises we have seen but it would be a big help and represent meaningful support. The Government has not even bothered examining this proposal, so the Taoiseach is already in here today announcing half measures instead of the comprehensive package that should be introduced.

We listen to lectures from the Taoiseach and his Ministers all the time on the importance of targeting supports for those who need them most but there is a huge gap between what they say and what they do. The Government's budget reduced the incomes of the poorest households by more than 4% and massively increased poverty rates among elderly people from 13% to 19%. That is not me saying that; that is the Parliamentary Budget Office.

The Taoiseach comes into this House today, when people desperately need real support, and all he has to offer them is a measure that excludes hundreds of thousands of households who are drowning in skyrocketing bills. Why are there no targeted supports for low-paid workers? Will the Taoiseach examine the Social Democrats' proposal for a targeted energy credit of €400?

I appreciate the Deputy raising these issues in a constructive light. It is not just the Deputy that has made the comment that the Government has waited for weeks and weeks. We are in a war for three weeks. We need some perspective here. The Government does not have billions and billions to allocate on a monthly basis, which is the implication one could draw from all of the protestations from the Opposition today. We need a bit of reality and flexibility in terms of the fiscal situation and in terms of thinking out to the end of the year and making sure we have enough in reserve to cushion and to make sure we can support people if things get worse. That is a consideration.

We also have to protect services. There are increasing costs in education, in health and in other services, and I am very anxious that we have enough in reserve to protect those also. The easiest thing for us to do would be to announce a €2 billion package today, and people would say that is great, but this is only March. We have to be relatively cautious and responsible, acknowledging that people out there are under a lot of pressure. There is no question about that because of the impact of the war on energy markets and because of the unprecedented nature of the supply shock. That has not yet filtered through, by the way. It has not filtered through globally or to our economy. I would disagree with the Deputy's assessment on the budget.

It is the Parliamentary Budget Office's assessment.

What we did for child support payments was the most significant - record increases of €8 per week for children under 12, and €16 per week for children over 12. As part of the child poverty unit in my own Department, with the Minister, Deputy Calleary, we have focused on that child poverty package, which is permanent. Today, DEIS plus was approved by Cabinet. We have taken a series of measures that have worked on the child poverty issue and that will bear dividend in the coming years. Of that I have no doubt, because of our focus on those key areas.

The working family payment cohort of people who, up to the last budget were excluded from the fuel allowance, have now been included. That is an extra 50,000 working families. That means about 470,000 families or people overall are now benefiting from the fuel allowance. The extension will be welcomed by all of those families as a targeted measure. It is an instrument or mechanism we have within the Department of Social Protection to enable us to pay people and to give them additional allowances to help them to try to cope with the very large increases that have occurred over the last number of weeks. That will take it out to the end of April, in addition to the reduction in excise on diesel and petrol.

The Taoiseach can disagree with my assessment all he likes but I was quoting the Parliamentary Budget Office, which is independent. Is the Taoiseach saying he does not accept its independent analysis of the budget? The proposal that we have put forward is fully costed - €362 million. It is targeted and affordable, as the Taoiseach says measures need to be. That would leave plenty of room for further measures later in the year, if, when and as they are required. Why is the Government not adopting our proposal? The Government is doing nothing extra for low-paid workers who do not receive the fuel allowance at all. Does the Taoiseach not see the difficulty they are in? If you are on low pay, do not qualify for the fuel allowance and your home heating oil bill to fill the tank has gone up by 80%, what are you meant to do? Are they invisible to the Taoiseach? Why are there no measures for them? In terms of people who have disabilities, carers and pensioners, why does the Taoiseach think the increases of just a few weeks to the fuel allowance is sufficient? It does not make a dent. A huge number of them were already in arrears before this crisis began. A total of 320,000 households were in arrears. Why is the Government not taking the targeted measures it needs to support them?

The working family payment was generally designed with low-income workers in mind. They are now included in the fuel allowance, which I think is a significant targeted measure by the Government, and the correct one. It is a framework that exists already. This package is about €250 million. I am not sure what the Deputy is saying he would take out. I am not clear on his costings, and I would need to get it costed properly by the Department of Social Protection and others in respect of that but we have an alternative suite of measures that cost about €250 million.

In the United Kingdom it is £53 million. If the Deputy goes around the European capitals, he will not see a packet as big as this one. As I said earlier, we have to think ahead in terms of other potential challenges that may come our way in respect of this crisis. It is now only March. We need to be cautious, notwithstanding the pressures that are on people and will manifest themselves in other parts of the economy as well if this continues.