The response that was formulated was driven by the Departments of Justice and Equality and Children and Youth Affairs, which are responsible for providing for the needs in question. Safe Ireland and the National Women's Council approached us in recent weeks to say that the supplement had not been working exactly how they had envisaged. They asked whether we could be the direct referral body and the Garda Síochána could be an authorised referrer. We have considered the matter for the past couple of days and looked a…

They have to be. To be honest, the numbers applying for rent supplement in recent months have not been large. That section is looking after people on the same day they come in or the next day.

The supplementary welfare payment does not try to bring everybody up to the €350 payment. Rather, it looks at individual outgoings. For example, the Deputy's household might be different from my household if we were both over 66. We are looking at people as individuals, taking account of their outgoings and whether they are necessary. For example, we might pay for somebody's mortgage or rent but not for a large car. We are looking at people as individuals. I will provide copies of the letters to and from Mandate, w…