Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On that note, there was reference in the opening statements to the number of people who are actually getting home care help and I think that needs to be acknowledged. As elected representatives, we tend to hear about those who are not getting the services, additional hours and so on. Those are probably some of the challenges. In her opening statement, Ms Larthwell stated that 54,000 people access the home care supports. All of us collectively, regardless of party or non-party, would agree that the need for legislation on this whole area should be addressed.

On the fact that there are 54,000 people getting access to it, 210 submissions were received to the survey that was carried out, of which 43 responses were from service users, their family members and others with support needs. Is it a small sample? Professor O'Sullivan is basing the response to the need for it on the survey, but it seems like a tiny number of people. Would that be a typical level of response to a survey for such a key element of legislation that is clearly needed right across society, and the number of people who are using the services at the moment?