Mr. Ger Deering:

We have found some inconsistencies in how local authorities implement it and even how they sometimes interpret some of the circulars on that.

There probably is an argument for the discretionary payment being higher in certain areas where rents are higher. For almost everything else, however, we believe a certain level of consistency is required. Somebody who lives in county A should not be treated differently than somebody in county B. As Ms O'Donoghue said earlier, some local authorities will automatically look at the discretionary payment while others will not. Still others do not even mention it. People should at least be informed that it is available or a possibility. They should know that. I know that discretionary payments are discretionary. We acknowledge that. However, at the same time, we need some sort of consistency. We would like more consistency and the implementation of our recommendations will lead to more consistency.