What instructions does the Minister give to health boards to ensure that supplementary welfare will be available to people in rural areas who do not receive a cheque? They wait until Friday morning for the postman to bring their cheque. In my area they find there is no health board officer available. He is there on Thursdays. What instructions are given to these officers?

If he is available he has not got the money.

Is somebody on duty on Saturday if people do not receive their cheques on Friday?

The Deputy is talking about a specific case in which he claims that an officer is not at his or her post at a particular time. I would have to make inquiries from the relevant health board about that. Each health board have their own responsibilities. We direct the health boards to be as flexible as possible with supplementary welfare benefits. In relation to this particular case, as I said to Deputy FitzGerald, I have issued further instructions.

What is a person who does not receive his cheque on a Friday to do?

These questions are related to individual cases. I have allowed a considerable number of supplementary questions and I am now going to confine supplementary questions to the question on the Order Paper.

Surely that is a matter for the Minister.

It is a matter for me to decide.

On a point of order, would the Chair not accept that in view of the sheer number of questions on the Order Paper — 51 oral and ten written — he should allow us to pursue them and have them clarified? In my constituency and in others people are hungry because they do not receive their money.

I am allowing only one supplementary. Only two questions have been answered in 15 minutes. I will not allow any further supplementaries unless they are directly related to the question on the Order Paper.