Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)

I know that. The NTPF has been in existence for a quarter of a century. Obviously, there is something wrong. The NTPF is simply implementing Government policy. I am not criticising it at all. I will go back to some constructive criticism about the failure of the NTPF's procedures to detect what was going on, but the NTPF is implementing policy. Presumably, the NTPF was to be a short-term measure but a quarter of a century later the costs and the numbers availing of the NTPF are rising exponentially, are they not? Mr. Gallagher might not agree with the word "exponentially" but they are rising.