Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. I assure the Deputy that it will be considered very closely in the design of the new scheme. I would like to respond to a couple of other questions while I have the floor. I do not have an answer to Deputy O'Reilly's very specific question about the €23.20 average cost of home care. Mr. O'Brien has already said that the Deputy will get a detailed answer to that question in writing. Obviously, the hourly payment is one part of the cost of a home care hour. Travel, management and associated costs are also paid out. I will let Mr. O'Brien follow up on that with a more detailed breakdown of the costs. I do not have that information to hand. Deputy O'Connell asked about other anomalies within the fair deal scheme. I want to confirm that there are no plans to extend the current five-year arrangement to seven years. I agree with Mr. O'Brien that because there are over 23,000 people availing of the scheme, of course there will be isolated incidents. We are not aware of any pattern emerging in this sphere.