Ms Nuala Geraghty:

On the figure of approximately 100 dogs per year, it comes down to the numbers registered and things like that but we are working off the number of emails and phone calls we get every day. That is how we work out our numbers. When we open the waiting list, we do a webinar. Everybody has to apply for the webinar. We held the webinar in August this year. Some 300 people attended. When we then actually opened the waiting list, 120 applied for an assistance dog. We go through the criteria at that stage so that applicants know whether a dog might be suitable for them. We had 30 places so there was a kind of lottery. We had to do a draw and pick out names so the other 80 people were left without a dog. The figure of 100 is probably a significant underestimate. We are not sure but that is what we would like to aim for. Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind also provides assistance dogs. Both of our organisations do this nationally. I do not know how many that organisation provides per year. It would be good to know.