Ms Mary Farrell:

We do not believe anything has been done. On the question what has been happening since the recommendation was made at the Committee of Public Accounts that something would be done to enable the transition, some wards have lost funds because of the financial crisis. Others have lost funds because they had a very meagre fund to start with. There are all kinds of reasons. One might have been using a fund over a very long period. There are all sorts of reasons funds may be running out. Having said that, the structure we envisage is that the Office of Wards of Court would be tracking these accounts, as it were, and would notice if funds were running low, or would run low in a year, say. If one applies for a medical card or for a social welfare payment, it takes an awful long time to get it in place. One has to submit all the relevant documentation, and there is a lot going on. There is no preparation for it so one can suddenly find oneself without funding.

That has happened to people we have spoken to including some of those here today.