Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Section 18 provides that "The Chief Deciding Officer may, for the purposes of his or her examination of an application, request the applicant concerned to provide, within such reasonable period as the Chief Deciding Officer may specify, information by affidavit where the Chief Deciding Officer is of the opinion that ..." and it goes on to list the various subsections and paragraphs. What is the justification for seeking an affidavit in the first instance? That is my first question. I am thinking of the person who has to go to a solicitor to make an affidavit. He or she will possibly have to relive past experiences in making that affidavit so there is a potential trauma there. Then there is also the cost to the person of having to make the affidavit in the first instance because he or she will have to pay a solicitor. Is there any thinking on the Minister's part in relation to making that a more seamless process? Has the Minister given any thought, where an applicant is successful after the fact, to enabling him or her to recoup, under the ambit of the scheme, the cost of the affidavit? I would like to get a sense from the Minister as to why the use of an affidavit was deemed necessary in the first instance. I am worried about that provision.

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