Dr. Kathleen MacLellan:

I might start by dealing with the plans relating to home care. The Department's commitment - it is also a Sláintecare commitment - is the development of a statutory scheme for the home care services. There has been progress on that and further progress will be made towards the end of this year and into next year. We have looked at international models. We have been working with the ESRI in terms of examining demand. We have also been examining - my colleague mentioned it earlier - the standard assessment tool, which is critically important. It is about the importance of examining the type of care, and the Deputy raised that, in terms of whether somebody needs hours in respect of physiotherapy, the activities of daily living support or their shopping and how we can get the best and most tailored support in place. We have significant plans for the roll-out of a standard assessment tool and the utilisation of that tool to decide the type and volume of care that will be utilised. The roll-out of that will commence as we move towards the end of this year.

There is a significant commitment to look at the type and form of home care being provided. As the Deputy heard earlier, we have invested significantly to bring down the waiting lists and we are hopeful that we will be able to invest significantly over the winter and going into 2020 to introduce what will be a broader and more comprehensive home support system through a home first approach. My colleagues in the HSE might want to give some more information on that.