Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials. I would like to officially congratulate him on his recent wedding. I have no doubt there were many heartbroken young women around the country, and maybe some who are not so young. That may be pushing it, but it sounds good.

I thank the Minister for his presentation. I have a few questions, although Deputy Kelly covered some of the questions I was going to ask. I find it difficult to understand the reason the number of home help hours and those receiving home care packages is down when my office is inundated every day with people requesting a home help service. That does not add up for me. The Minister might comment on that.

My baby is the issue of disability. Every Department would like a bigger spend in the area of disability but I highlight for the Minister the huge waiting lists, not only for a diagnosis but for follow-on treatment. That is particularly important for young people with early intervention being so important.

I would like the Minister to comment on what he is spending on advice and prevention in terms of trying to encourage people to eat healthier and exercise. That would result in less of a spend in time to come because it might prevent people developing diabetes and other diseases.

On the winter initiative, last year was a bit of a learning curve but has the Minister other plans in place to make it work better this year? In essence, it was not a huge success last year.