Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today that it was hoped that the government distribution of vouchers exchangeable for energy saving bulbs would start at the end of this month.

Speaking at a press conference as part of the European Parliament electoral campaign,Dr Gonzi said that the process involving registration by retailers had now been completed, and vouchers for the bulbs would be distributed by locality.

The government said earlier this year that up to one million bulbs will be handed out. Households of one or two persons would receive five bulbs, those of three or four people would receive eight, and bigger households would receive 10.

At his press conference Dr Gonzi defended the government's decisions on the energy tariffs and also highlighted the cut in tariffs which was confirmed yesterday and is backdated to April 1. He said that the high tariffs between October and the end of March were the result of record oil prices. The past months, he said, had shown a drop in demand as people became more aware of their consumption patterns.

Dr Gonzi admitted that the tariffs could have been introduced in a better way last October, and lessons had been learnt, as the exercise conducted by the Malta Resources Authority for the new tariffs showed.

He also pointed out that the governemnt last summer absorbed €50 million so that the economy and households would not be burdened unduly as oil prices rocketed.

He also pointed out how, under the revised system, families would see their bills fall by an average of 22 percent. Two person households were expected to save some €79 per year and savings would grow for the bigger households.

SMEs would see a saving of some 29 percent.