Dr. Ray Walley:

On a point of clarification, I work in the north inner city of Dublin, an area with significant literacy problems where there is still no system in place to help people with literacy difficulties. The nearest office to my practice is in Ballymun, which is not exactly a walk around the corner for people living on the North Strand or Amiens Street. There is no local service to ensure that individuals with literacy problems can be supported. The same applies in respect of the cognitively impaired being able to nominate someone. Many of those who are cognitively impaired reside in nursing homes. These homes could be nominated as the entity to which correspondence would be sent. The only way to have a more patient-centred and safe approach would be to extend eligibility for a period of approximately three months during which the application could be reassessed to ensure the decision of the PCRS was correct.