Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

It is not a new account in that sense. There is an existing account under the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Act 2006. The account is new only to the extent that its draw-down process is being amended. I am informed that this special account to be funded from moneys provided by the Oireachtas is to be used to pay benefits under the relevant insurance scheme and to pay the costs of the scheme administrator in administering the scheme. The amendment provides that moneys shall only be issued out of the account on the direction of the Minister for Finance with the approval of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and subject to such terms and conditions as the Minister for Finance, in consultation with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, shall determine. It is new only to the extent that it is a new way of drawing down the moneys involving the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in the process. As for the numbers and the beneficiaries, I do not think they have changed.

See this speech in context