Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I am concerned about this because when statutory home care was announced by the previous Government, the perception was that statutory home care would be like nursing home care in the home. That is not the way I see it because we would not have enough carers to deliver it. My budget for home care this year is €730 million. The nut has not been cracked yet as regards at what stage people would contribute to the cost of home care, notwithstanding that we have had reports from the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI. That is the concern I have. For example, in the case of people who receive home care of up to 14 hours free at the point of entry, at what stage will they be charged under a mechanism similar to the fair deal scheme? I would be happy to meet the Deputy to discuss this. That part of the equation has never been finalised and it is the piece I find hardest to grapple with. The ESRI has looked at charging, say, €5 per hour for home care and various other issues. If home care is to be like nursing home care, people will be expected under a means test to contribute. How do we decide that? I have a budget of €730 million for home care this year. If we say to people they can have 14, 16 or 18 hours of home care free of charge but if they increase that to 20 hours they will have to pay, people will obviously choose 14 or 16 hours. For me, that is the issue. We have not resolved that part of the equation yet and that is the point I find difficult to grapple with.