Mr. Nick Henderson:

No, we have not formally questioned the Department on this but it is of real concern to us. It means in effect that a person has no recourse to other support or welfare. As I understand it, our representations to the Department now request that if the State is not going to accommodate somebody, at the very least it should provide them with an allowance of €21.60. The committee should also bear in mind that this €21.60 is a calculation that results from somebody's existing social welfare provision. The Department subtracts its estimation of the cost of providing bed and board and comes up with the figure of €21.60. At the very least, if the State will not provide accommodation or board to somebody, it should provide the full welfare allowance to which they would otherwise be entitled.