Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It does. I will explain my concern a little bit more to ensure the Minister will consider it when he gets to the stage of drawing up the regulations. For example, somebody might have hygiene related issues which are indirectly related to mental health, a disability, a history of institutionalisation, or a lack of development of the life skills for independent living. This is a set of clearly defined circumstances. My concern is that the way this section is drafted means that someone in such circumstances can say they have a medical condition that, for clear clinical reasons, requires an additional amount of water. From what the Minister just said, those are the kinds of people he might be attempting to bring into this broader category. On that basis, I am willing not to press the amendments.

The way medical priority works in South Dublin County Council is that a strict link with one's accommodation needs has to be established by a senior medical practitioner. It is a pretty high bar. It is not necessarily wrong in the instance of a housing priority allocation. However, if one replicated that stringent regime and applied it to this exemption, it could exclude categories of people who would legitimately require above-average usage. It is in those areas which are not demonstrably medical but are behavioural or indirectly related to mental health or disability. One has to find some way of capturing those. If the Minister gives us a commitment to discuss this issue prior to drawing up regulations, I would be happy to withdraw the amendments. It is a genuine proposition.