Ms Rachel Downes:

It should definitely be considered that a limit should have been put in place from the beginning. The board realised very quickly that the majority of the fund would be spent on a very small population of survivors and that many survivors were going to miss out. The aim was to be fair and equitable. From June 2016, a limit of €15,000 was implemented and additional services were introduced as well. It had been found that homeowners were unfairly advantaged in that structural works such as windows, doors or heating systems were being done whereas renters were not able to utilise the same services. Therefore, assistance for white goods was introduced.