Ms Anna-Karin Ulpe:

I thank Deputy Canney for raising the grants. It is good if you can put the money up front first and get some back but for those who cannot afford any co-payment, they cannot avail of those grants at all. To the poorest, least is given.

On assessing the means of the whole household, it is well and good where someone has a partner. Say if you are long-time married, the partner will contribute to your expenses but there are people in their 20s and 30s who cannot move on in their life or form significant relationships because nobody dares to go into a relationship with them because they know that they will have to be their carers instantly and have all that responsibility and they will have to pay for them for the rest of their life. It is a totally unequal relationship that is doomed from the start. I really feel for the young people who cannot support themselves or form new relationships.