Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Has the possibility of the new scheme kicking in before discharge - before the person walks out the door - been explored? I understand that it would seem ridiculous to start tearing down the legislative underpinning of the existing fair deal scheme. Now that a new scheme is being proposed, which I think is a great idea, the Government has an opportunity to provide for it to kick in at the point of discharge. If the family home is going to be used to fund it, perhaps that money could start being used up at the point of discharge from hospital. This would avoid delays. The only purpose of this is to expedite people getting into the appropriate setting.