Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for clarifying the position. It is worse than I thought. It is a major administrative error which should have been spotted last October. I find it difficult to believe the Office of the Minister for Children could not have foreseen this problem. It is unacceptable that it has left it until the last minute to deal with the issue and also, in the Minister of State's response, there is not one reference to the needs of children.