Mr. Robert Watt:

The policy is for people to stay at home or close to their home and be treated there and cared for. That is what we are trying to do with home supports. As the Senator correctly identified, there is a significant issue in finding staff for home supports. The Government allocated significant money and an increase in the hours for home support this year again. The challenge for the Department is to identify resources and people who can go in and provide those supports and to improve the overall level of care. It is linked with the Sláintecare initiatives regarding enhanced community care, providing supports through chronic disease management and older person intervention teams to help older people stay out of hospital, manage chronic diseases and conditions to keep them out of hospital and nursing homes and for them to stay at home. That is the policy objective. As the Senator knows, given our demography, with the number of people aged over 75 going up 4% or 5% a year, this is an enormous societal challenge. It is going to involve significant resources, the commitment of Exchequer resources and a new approach to manpower and forecast planning. It is an enormous issue for us around funding, regulation, the balance between different options and different types of living for older citizens. This is a monumental societal challenge we are now facing.