Mr. James Cawley:

The Deputy has hit the nail on the head. When the figures are broken down to 42 minutes a day on average, we have to ask whether that is independent living or a move to institutionalise people at home. Realistically, personal assistance is about the freedom to make choices about when to get up in the morning, when to go to bed in the evening and so on. If you break it down, with 42 minutes per day, you would be lucky to get a slice of toast and butter it and have a shower routine, for example.

The standardisation point is vital. It is a postcode lottery at the moment. Ireland is broken into nine CHO areas. I might get different hours in Longford than someone else in a different CHO area. If I get a job in a different CHO area, I cannot move my service. There is no portability of services and that is across the board, not only personal assistant services. I mentioned when I was at university and my wheelchair broke down in County Kildare. Because it broke down in there, I was told I had to get my broken powered wheelchair, which is one of my independent living supports, to the CHO area where it was funded. That is something we need to move away from. That is why we need to look at standardising this process across the island and looking at a centralised system.