Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)

It was very memorable too. We have never sold this legislation as making a major change to the way the subvention scheme operates. The scheme operates under the 1993 regulations. On the advice of the Attorney General, it was decided to provide for it in primary legislation. There will be no real change in how the scheme will be administered. It will be administered on a standardised basis across the State.

The HSE would have to be in a position to review the degree of dependency and the means of a dependant at any time as both dependency and financial circumstances can change significantly in 12 months.

See this speech in context