Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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In terms of using money wisely such that one is not saving it or stopping it from being spent but actually spending it in a much more expansive way, exactly the same thing happens with the home care packages. In my area the budget for them was exhausted in February. One cannot then complain if people are taking up beds in acute hospitals.

The budget is obviously not adequate, but it is being spent. The argument seems to be that as the bed would be filled, there is no saving. That tells us something about the thinking and the approach to the budget.