Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Great progress was made in the 2017 programme in cutting down the number of invalid applications. In 2012, 48% of applications were invalid while in the 2014 and 2015 rounds, the percentage was in the mid-thirties. It reduced to approximately 20% in 2017 and, for the first time, we had an appeals process for applicants that felt they were harshly adjudicated and their applications wrongly invalidated. That resulted in a further €2.3 million worth of allocations for applicants.

One of the key aspect of the 2018 programme is that no organisation will have its application ruled invalid without having a second chance to rectify the matters raised. That will be positive because, as the Deputy mentioned, one of the key frustrations for volunteers over the years has been disqualification of applications for a minor infraction of the rules. By giving people a second chance to set the application right before it is adjudicated on will give everybody a day at the races. After that, they can be adjudicated on based on the number of points they achieve under our scoring criteria.

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