A single mother in my constituency has to bring her very ill child to a Dublin hospital once or sometimes twice a month and is struggling to get any assistance. Numerous people are in this position. They are ill and in receipt of illness benefit or some other allowance, but receive no assistance for the travel they have to undertake to attend hospital appointments. There used to be a mobility allowance and other schemes for this but they have all been taken away. There was nothing in the budget for these people. I want a commitment from the Government at this point. Can something be done to assist people in these circumstances who are struggling?

If people are experiencing financial hardship due to having to travel to access healthcare, they should contact their community welfare officer.

The community welfare officers will not deal with them. They say, "No". I have it in writing.

If there are genuine hardship cases, they have the discretion to deal with them and they should do so.

They will not do it. They say they do not have the money.