Dr. Fergal Lynch:

I believe that it is. We have regular conversations with Pobal as to how it implements its compliance requirement. Pobal can only assess against the agreed rules and I believe it has done that. The Deputy stated that individual small providers had suffered a loss of around €10,000 as a result of this. I appreciate that this would make a difference to them. Pobal is very careful not to grab the money from them and it has a very good case management and sustainability system. Instead of just asking a provider for the money back, it works with providers, particularly if it is clear that they will run into financial difficulty or will have sustainability issues as a result of being required to repay, or not being allowed to reclaim, money.