John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the witnesses for their opening statements. Does the Department of Health consider less than 12 hours per week assistance to be adequate given what personal assistant is about? In other words, it is not in-home support but about liberating people and allowing them to live independent lives.

In regard to the table on page 5 of the Department of Health presentation, which sets out how the 2,500 is made up, does the Department consider one to 5 hours per week, 6 to 10 hours per week and 11 to 20 hours per week adequate personal assistant service provision? If the HSE has knowledge of the level of need in personal assistance service provision, can it say yes. Is that within its gift? It was mentioned in the Department's opening statement that resources are finite.