Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is not a report. We need to trawl through the more than 42,000 people to find out exactly where they were on the scale, how much money it will cost and what their circumstances were. The paper will set out exactly what the problem is and the preferred way or ways to fix it and how much it will cost. The reason I am confident it will be accepted is because everybody has said they want to fix this. Everybody also recognises that it depends on how much it will cost. The worst-case scenario is that it will be fixed in next year's budget. If it does not cost as much as we think it will cost, it might happen sooner. Nobody will say that is not the way to do it. The discussion will be on where we will find the money. The worst-case scenario is it will be the first thing on the list next October, November or December when people sit down to talk about budgets for next year, whoever happens to be in the hot seat. That is the worst-case scenario. There has been no indication that people will reject my proposals on how to fix this. Who will pay for it is the issue that needs to be discussed.