Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I was aware of the eligibility issue. We had to make a choice in 2004 in terms of the Health Service Act versus this major Act on eligibility. However, I was not specifically aware of any illegality in regard to long-stay charges. In respect of my special advisers, the same principle applies to them in that their role is to advise me. They are not, and never were, a buffer zone between my officials and me. This is not how things operated.

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