Ms Laverne McGuinness:

Deputy Naughten asked about reductions in home help services. The national average is about five hours per person and reductions are in the range of half an hour to an hour. Since the reductions commenced, 72,000 hours have been cumulatively reduced across the country. It is important to note the balance of that and where it has been. The majority of hours reduced have been in the south, 59,000 hours, but in Cork alone 82,000 home help hours are delivered over and above what should be delivered according to the service plan. A further 12,000 hours are being delivered in Waterford over and above what should be delivered, and an extra 20,000 in Wexford. That is why the proportion is so high. In the west, the cumulative figure for the reduction is 9,000 hours. There is high level of over-delivery in the west too, particularly around Sligo-Leitrim, where there are 30,000 hours delivered over and above what should be delivered. North Tipperary and east Limerick have 17,000 extra hours, Donegal has an over-provision of 17,000, Limerick has an over-provision of 14,000 and Mayo has an over-provision of 6,000.