Ms Sinéad Lucey:

We have not specified a period for that. Certainly, payments should be paid from 22 January 2024, when the Supreme Court judgment crystallised the entitlement of cohabitants and their children to the payment. We are aware from members of the public who have contacted us, and through organisations like Treoir and One Family Ireland, that there are historical cases where there was great hardship to cohabitants who could not access the payment. It is really about engagement with those organisations and looking at the various scenarios to see whether the scheme as it is could be extended. We should also look at whether there might be an ex gratia payment in certain circumstances to look at those of situations of hardship. We have not set out a period because this is an area where more examination is needed of the various circumstances that arise, as well as the circumstances and particular hardship experienced at the time by those not able to access the payment. We are aware that there may have been people who applied for the payment and were refused because they were cohabitants, or were advised not to apply at the time because they had no entitlement. The Department should examine whether something could be done as well for those families.