Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is okay. I certainly do not want to impinge on that. The €28 per hour, all in, would compare very favourably, judging from previous replies and partial replies I have received to parliamentary questions and here in this forum to the effect that the ones directly employed by the HSE are cost-effective and directly under the control of the manager of the home help organiser. I acknowledge as well that they provide a great service. The feedback is very good. Obviously, we understand the importance of the home help or home care worker, as they are now called. Certainly, I am a big advocate for keeping people in their own homes as long as possible. It is cost-effective. In terms of quality of life, it is better. It is where they want to be and so on, and it takes pressure off because we have a shortage of nursing home beds. We know that from the previous discussion. In that regard, there are a lot of restrictions, some of which I suppose are necessary, as to what the home care worker can do. My mother was one.