Mr. Jim Lynch:

It is important to state the penalty rate is appealable. There is a process whereby it can be appealed. With this in mind, deciding officers and those who speak to people on a daily basis do not easily arrive at the decision to stop or reduce a payment. As Mr. McKeon explained, we first have a chat and explain to those involved what they said they would do. It is very important to remember that in the activation measures the first part of the process is attending a group information session and that the second is a one to one meeting at which a personal progression plan is agreed to. We can only apply a sanction where someone is in breach of his or her agreement with us. He or she agrees that this might be a proper course of action to pursue, but it could mean waiting for three months for an education and training board course to become available and until the person concerned does not show up on the first day of the course. We are then back to having a conversation and asking why he or she did not start the course. We also explain the implications. On a practical level, we give a person every opportunity to comply and the application of a penalty rate is a last case scenario because on a human level deciding officers are very aware of the impact and implications of reducing somebody's money by €40. It is, therefore, very much the last option for us.