Mr. Paul Reid:

Absolutely. Any extra funding we get in terms of home care supports is excellent value for money when compared to the cost of a patient being delayed in an acute setting or, indeed, in a bed. It is much more cost-effective.

Specifically, there is a number of aspects in terms of the supply and demand. On the demand side, as I said in my statement, we have more than 7,000 people, which is combination of people looking for new hours and extended hours throughout the day. More funding in next year's budget will be supportive of that.

We also have a supply factor in terms of home help providers and care providers, which is a significant challenge in some parts of the country. As the Deputy will be aware, we have a mix between direct labour and indirect labour across the country for historical legacy reasons, but that is where the supply is. We have a bit of supply of the home care hours and help where we want to get more and we have a bit on the demand side in terms of the extra provision required. Positively, next year's budget will reflect significant extra hours.