Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I take this point on board. I do not think it necessarily requires a statutory basis. As the Deputy said, many State agencies have routes, such as dedicated email addresses, for Oireachtas members to ensure there are clear channels of communication. It is important because the Deputy stated not everybody can advocate for themselves. I go back to what we see as being the simplicity of this scheme; if people were in these institutions for the specified time, then they will get the payment. There will be situations where people will probably want to make a point.

That is fine but, by and large, there are no value judgments being made and there is no need to establish evidence. It is just a question of whether someone qualified for the period and whether the records suggest that the person was in for that period. As we all know, though, there will be people who seek the support of their representatives, so we will make that point. I hope that a mechanism to recognise this will be built in from the beginning.