Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is correct. We signed off on our Bill yesterday and we look forward to submitting it. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is now denying more requests than it is granting. We are concerned about that trend. The Department received 207 requests last year. Sixty were granted and 67 were refused. We are seeing a gradual trend towards more requests being refused than granted. That is borne out by the figures. As already stated, the percentage of requests granted decreased from 62% to 51% between 2014 and 2017. The trend seems to be going in the wrong direction. That is why we are proposing legislation. I understand that the Minister is looking at this matter and will keep it under review.

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