Mr. Paul Reid:

First, I will come back to the earlier question around the number of consultants. A total of 125 consultants were recruited over the course of last year. That is not the number we want. We want to recruit more. That is a process - I wish to acknowledge that upfront.

I will make a broader comment on home care packages and then specifically on the question of people in hospital waiting to exit so they can receive home care packages. Our total allocation of hours this year is 17.9 million. The budget is €450 million or thereabouts. That provides home supports to over 53,000 people. There are significant demand and pressure points throughout the country, in particular in some areas around age profiles, etc. We continue to commit to deliver the 17.9 million hours budgeted. We got an extra budget for that.

The Deputy asked about people waiting in hospitals. There are approximately 6,500 people overall in our community looking for some of those extra home help services. A significant proportion of these are people who want extra demands on services or extra hours. Some are seeking new services. I will clarify the number in hospitals. I understand 149 people are now in hospital care but looking for step-down services. There are various challenges or issues with some step-down services.