Mr. Sean Dillon:

Yes, for certain schemes. As Mr. John Dunne pointed out, the HSE has an obligation in terms of funding for the fair deal scheme. If one enters that system and qualifies then one will receive it. However, if one qualifies for a home care service one does not necessarily get it. The difference is that a person does not have to receive it.

It is the Department of Health that dictates the strategy and not the HSE. There is an office for older persons. I know that one person provided the carer's strategy which had a knock-on effect on the positive ageing strategy. It is my belief that there is a resources issue. The development of national policies should not depend on each other. There should be enough of a distribution and allocation of resources to implement them concurrently because both strategies feed into each other.