Mr. Tony O'Brien:

I will respond to some of the questions asked by Deputy McLellan. The Deputy raised a real issue in respect of the fair deal scheme and the times when we have extended the waiting period beyond financial approval for access to the scheme itself. We know it results in some families going to extraordinary lengths to care for their loved ones, as is perfectly understandable. Unfortunately, access to funding is governed by the legislation which requires that it is done in chronological order, which means places are allocated in the order in which people applied and were approved. We are not in a position to provide financial assistance outside of that. I will ask my colleague, Mr. Pat Healy to comment on people asking for exemptions.