Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I met members of the board via video conference in March. This video conference took place in the aftermath of the implementation of the Finance Act last year, which had brought into statutory law the criteria for access to that scheme, which were laid out in regulation up until that point.

This videoconference took place in the aftermath of the implementation of the Finance Bill of last year. At that point, it had brought into statutory law the criteria for access to that scheme. At that point we laid out the regulation. As the committee will know that this was subject to a Supreme Court adjudication on the matter. In the meeting of the committee, the members outlined to me their dissatisfaction regarding the implementation and execution of this policy at that point. In the videoconference that I had with them, I indicated to them that I was willing, am willing and have work under way to reassess that scheme, as well as the access criteria to it. That work is a part of a broader review of the status of disability issues in services that is being undertaken by the Department of Health. As that work is under way, I will do all that I can to facilitate the appointment of new board members to that board, so that we can deal with any appeals that are in place at the moment.