Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not disagree with Deputy Ó Cuív. However, there is only a take-up of 151. There are many more than 151 people who lost their pots. They cannot apply because they are paid after they purchase and on the receipts.

How can one buy lots of pots when one has not got the money? That is the problem. One can juggle the figures any way one wants. The stumbling block is where one does not have the money upfront to purchase the pots or whatever one needs. A sum of €1.5 million was made available, which was inadequate from the start, but I thought that there would have been a great up-take of the funding. I spoke to lads this morning and they said that a lot of people were interested in the scheme but could not avail of it because they did not have the money to buy the pots. We need to look at that matter.