Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am asking that there would be no further cuts. Can the Minister give any indication that there will be a reversal of cuts that have already taken place? I take on board the fact that the Minister indicated a comparable saving towards the end of this year concerning his renegotiation with the pharmaceutical sector of some €16 million. The figure of €16.9 million would not only reverse the cuts that occurred at the end of August but also those imposed last January in budget 2012. I urge the Minister to take on board that it is not only opposition voices who are saying this. In a recent edition of the Limerick Leader, the Minister's colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for housing and planning, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, correctly indicated the total unacceptability of the examples of cuts that have been imposed on home help hours and home care packages. She pledged to do all she could to have them reversed in specific instances. I have no doubt she is committed to seeing that addressed comprehensively across the board. It is therefore something that both Government and Opposition Members are hugely discomfited by.