Mr. Mark Regan:

The first and most significant barrier has been awareness of the scheme. I did a radio interview about two years ago. I was described as the Easter bunny and Santa rolled into one because what we were offering was too good to be true, since one could get healthcare and get most if not all of that money back. It seems like a scam and like it is too good to be true, but it is a reality. The initial barrier was that people did not trust it. It has now turned a corner and it has become mainstream, with the majority of Irish citizens hearing of it or knowing someone who has been through the scheme in one of the institutions.

That has been the biggest barrier to it. Shortfall is a barrier for another percentage. I do not know what that percentage is but it might be 20% or 30%. It is relatively small. The biggest problem is people not trusting it. It is a Government-run, State-run scheme. That is changing and the barriers are disappearing. Hopefully, if this can get into law over the coming years, we will see a different attitude to this. Awareness and the shortfall are the two biggest issues.