Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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The Minister of State said that, whatever the criteria that are settled on for the new scheme, he would also seek to address the needs of current recipients. This adds to the complexity of the definition of "eligibility criteria" from a legal and drafting perspective. It suggests that, in the current thinking about the proposed Bill, some people in the 4,700 cohort might not be eligible under the new criteria. Can the Minister of State confirm whether that is the case? Does the Minister of State agree that there is no funding in budget 2018 for this and that the next, and only, opportunity for funding will be budget 2019?