Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I started by welcoming the scheme and describing it as very positive. The figures the Minister has given are interesting. How many applications does the Minister anticipate? What analysis has been done on that? Of the 2,746 applications so far, 2,113 were from individuals. This means some applicants have registered for more than one care period. Does that mean they have done two 20-year care periods? Have some of them done that? Given that the minimum is 20 years, does that mean that those who done more than one care period have cared for 40 years or more?

I welcome that no applications have been refused or disallowed so far, with some cases still pending. Is there a review built in to the scheme? Is there an appeal mechanism available in the case of a refusal? Does the Minister have enough staff to capture what is happening with regard to the number of contributions and applications and to do an ongoing analysis of the scheme?

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