Ms Mary Higgins:

There was an issue about "unaware of reports", but I think I have dealt with that. They have not come to us and therefore I am not aware of the detail. Therefore it is very difficult for us to, first, comment on and then rectify any problems.

Senator Ruane asked about the policy of prioritisation. Again it was a question of trying to manage a difficult situation with people coming with applications, our considering those applications, our completing those applications and them coming back. With new people coming in we were just not able to get to them. Again it comes back to the point about trying to manage the fund in an equitable way. In 2015 the board decided it would prioritise new applications over the repeat ones. That does not mean we ignore repeat applications. We do deal with them and each of them is assessed when they come in. We also give priority in a different way. We give priority to people aged over 70 and we give priority to people with urgent medical needs. That is where there is a repeat or an initial application.