Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to support Deputy Harkin. I have followed this issue for some time. The Minister’s response towards the end was not too dissimilar to replies we have received to previous parliamentary questions. I echo what Deputy Harkin said. The Minister might provide us with any content arising from the last meeting to give us an idea of what the outstanding issues might be. As he said, there is a proposal, or the meat of a proposal, there. If there are any outstanding issues or difficulties being encountered, we would appreciate it if the Minister could elaborate on them. As Deputy Harkin rightly said, the scheme is there since the 1960s. It is not cognisant of many disabilities or physical impairments that people might have. For some reason, Ireland is the only country to provide lump-sum tax relief. In his response, the Minister has acknowledged that we are changing how we do this but will he outline the content of the latest meetings?

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