Ms Frances Spillane:

A minority of home care is provided at the moment by private providers and voluntary providers. That is part of the analysis we are doing at the moment. We are looking at all of that. We have been unable to get a large amount of information to date with regard to some of these providers.

Reference was made to the carer's allowance. As the Deputy rightly pointed out, that is the responsibility of the Department of Employment and Social Protection.

I was asked how we would meet the demand. That is a crunch issue. We recognise that there is unmet need at the moment. With everyone living longer, which is a positive thing, it means demand is going to increase. The research done by the Health Research Board examined the funding provided in Scotland, a country with a population similar to Ireland. The current funding of home care in Scotland is approximately double what we are providing. Certainly, there will be a need for additional resources to provide effective home care services. That underlines why we need to come up with a funding scheme that is as fair and equitable as possible.

Reference was made to the nursing home support scheme and the possible closure of some public nursing homes. A capital programme was launched in 2016 to provide funding for refurbishment and new build of public nursing homes. The overall funding available for the programme is in the region of €500 million. The programme is being rolled out up to 2021. Many of the major developments are towards the end of that period.