In regard to the package put in place, I want to thank the Minister, Deputy Heydon, the Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley and Grealish, and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien. I also thank the team who worked to put it together. Of course, I would welcome the package because I worked on it too. Like every package put together, the one thing you would always ask is whether it went far enough. The whole issue of taxation on fuel has to be looked at and that will have to be done ahead of budget 2027. Our tax system cannot rely so heavily on taxation on fuel given that rural people are at a disadvantage because they have to drive further, because of agriculture and contracting and because of trying to survive in rural Ireland. The carbon tax deferral is very welcome but this is a tax that will have to be examined as to its effectiveness because it is punishing people living in rural areas who do not have any alternative to driving. They have to use diesel or petrol because electric vehicles are not as reliable or give the same distance. That is why the whole issue of carbon tax is such a hot potato for people living in rural areas. Again, I remind people that the package put in place was, if not the largest, the second largest fund put in place in Europe in response to the war being waged many thousands of miles away and which is totally beyond the control of this Government. At the same time, we have to be balanced and considerate in taxing fuel and to understand that an awful lot of people living in rural areas, like County Kerry, are being more directly and negatively impacted by taxes on fuel than others. On carbon tax funds, the SEAI is being funded by carbon tax but it is ironic that we still have people waiting two years for retrofitting under the warmer homes scheme. Such an amount of money is being collected all the time through taxation to help people retrofit their homes. When a person in their 70s or 80s, who is living in a cold home, says they would like to make their home more energy efficient and to avail of the retrofitting grant - I welcome the retrofitting grant and I am glad it is there - they are told they qualify but they will have to wait so many years. The Minister of State will understand why that is a big worry to a person who might be shoving 80 years of age to be told they will be given the grant but they must wait two years for it. Surely we could do better when it comes to delivering. I know there are issues like manpower on the ground, labour and so on. I understand why there are difficulties delivering it more quickly but it is something we should seriously look at. I hope budget 2027 will look at aspects of that scheme to see if we can get the money to where it is needed more quickly and to bring relief, heat, warmth and comfort to older people more quickly than at present. On issues like the carbon tax, we have to start looking at exactly how much is being collected and how quickly it is being delivered to help the people we are trying to help. Money is being collected and it is going to TAMS grants, for example. That is something we desperately want funding for. We have to strike a balance for the greater good at all times. It would be wrong for anyone to talk on the Finance Bill and not recognise the package put in place was such a large and substantial sum of money. On agriculture and the marine, that fund was put in place in a very timely fashion. Yes, administration had to be dealt with but I want to acknowledge the work of the Secretary General, the people in the Department of Finance and the Minister, Deputy Heydon, for chairing all those meetings and being so diligent dealing with the representatives from all the groups, whether it was the contractors, the marine people, the fishers or the farmers, to try to deliver something that would be substantial enough that it would make a difference. That has been implemented now. People have put in their applications and will know what they will get. Any money they get is a help. There is another issue, in that because it is a rebate scheme, they should not have to pay tax on the money they get.

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