I acknowledge the temporary measures that have been introduced to help address the rise in fuel and energy costs. They will offer some short-term support at the time when many households and businesses are feeling real pain. I have spoken to many Louth hauliers, coach operators and households who are desperately worried about what is to come. This conflict in the Middle East is the latest supply chain shock for energy markets. Uncertainty around supply chains is creating real fears about what lies ahead. In Louth as in the rest of the country, families are already finding it difficult to manage heating and everyday living costs. Small businesses are affected. Coach operators and hauliers along the M1 corridor continue to face fluctuating fuel costs. We need a real plan to start reducing the cost of energy in this country, which is unsustainable, as the Taoiseach knows. Given these global pressures and local challenges, will the Government keep the situation under close review and ensure the supports can be adjusted if it worsens? Can we start front-loading investment into alternative energy sources, advancing our critical infrastructure plan and extending our retrofit programmes to help future-proof these problems?

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The haulage industry is a key industry whose role in our modern economy has been underestimated in terms of getting goods from ports to shelves and from manufacturing facilities to the ships for our export markets. I am very interested in making sure that we have a sustainable haulage industry into the future. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has engaged with the industry over the last number of weeks and today's measures reflect part of that engagement and will provide some ease of the pressure. I acknowledge the pressures on the industry are still very significant. More generally, the Deputy is correct about the need to drive forward with the retrofitting programme and energy efficiency programmes. Through front-loading solar energy and insulation, we will continue to do everything we can to support businesses and households in terms of any energy efficiency measures they can take to help in the short term.