I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 27 together.
I thank the Deputies for their questions. The decline in consumer spending in the first quarter of this year was mainly due to the mobility restrictions introduced because of the omicron wave of the pandemic. The Deputy referred to recent engagement with the Central Statistics Office, CSO, in his question. On the question of the cost of living, the Government has acted swiftly and frequently to address this issue, including through budget 2022 measures and more recent measures, adding up to €2.4 billion, which have been introduced to ease the burden on households, including with measures targeted at those in need.
In October, as part of the budget, the Government provided more than €1 billion in direct relief, incorporating a reduction in personal income tax and a social welfare package. Inflationary pressures intensified because of pent-up demand in the economy after the pandemic-related restrictions. There were also restrictions on getting products into the country due to various backlogs in production lines and those problems are still there and have added to inflation. The Putin war has also exacerbated the situation, primarily in its effect on the price of fuel, which affects people coming to and going from work, home-heating costs and the cost of running a business. That has exacerbated the situation.
The Government acted again in February with a package of €505 million to deal directly with the issue of rising energy prices. This included a €200 credit towards the cost of energy bills for every household in the country, a lump sum payment in respect of the fuel allowance and a cut to public transport fares.
The Deputy mentioned the ESRI report. It stated that the types of measures we introduced, such as the lump sum payments to help with household energy bills, were better targeted than an across-the-board fuel increase from which everybody, including wealthy people, would benefit. As the report stated, even though the same amount of €200 was given to each household, we know that lower income families have higher energy costs proportionally relative to their incomes. Therefore, the lump sum payment was proportionally more beneficial to those people. Those were the words of the ESRI this morning.