Ms Niamh O'Donoghue:

Again, what I would say is funeral expenses would be one of the line items in the guidelines that we offer. It is up to anybody to make a case to the community welfare officer and they have the discretion if they need it. Assistance was provided to around 3,000 people in 2014 at a cost of €4.6 million. As of the end of April this year, more than 1,000 payments have been issued towards expenses, at a cost of €1.8 million, with an average payment of about €1,600.