Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)

I cannot be any straighter than I have been. The Senator's proposal is ridiculous. When an application is processed and a figure arrived at, the applicant is notified. It would be impossible to pay the person within the 28 days because he or she has that period to appeal or accept the payment. The Government has no intention of delaying it any longer. If we accept the Senator's proposal and notify someone on 1 June and do not pay until 1 July we could leave ourselves open to a legal challenge. This type of amendment ties us down unnecessarily. We are providing the money and the people to administer the scheme and we intend to process the applications as quickly as possible and to return the money.