Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Secretary General for coming at such short notice. We appreciate it and recognise this is a matter of enormous importance to many people, and we are joined today by the very people who are affected.

I would like to address the particular matter at this stage and come back to the wider matter later. Could we get more information on the calculation of €100 million and how the Department arrived at that figure? It was my understanding that 19,000 people over 66 years old could apply for the motorised transport grant. Is that grant not primarily to assist people to get to work? If not, how did the Department come to the 19,000 figure? Was a legal challenge pending in the courts on this matter that forced the Department's hand on the day it did?