I propose to take Questions Nos. 288 and 306 together.
My colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Mary Wallace, accompanied by an officer of my Department, met the Post Polio Support Group on 25 February 1998 in Leinster House. The discussions covered research on post polio syndrome or the late effects of polio and current medical knowledge about the condition; the provision of therapy services and aids and applicances required by persons suffering from the condition and funding for these items and, in addition, the impact of the cost of the disability on such persons was addressed; a request to establish a trust fund to support the group and the automatic granting of medical cards for persons suffering with the post polio condition and plans for a conference by the Post Polio Support Group in 1999 and the establishment, in the health boards, of a database in relation to people with physical and sensory disabilities.