Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy. The winter initiative is only one part of this. If we look at the figures and the experts, the number of people over 65 will double in the next 30 years and the number of people in their 80s will quadruple. That does not just happen in winter and we need to be able to provide the resources throughout the year. This is the reason why we have increased and will increase funding by €68.4 million this year alone shows that we are committed to increasing on a year-on-year basis. In particular, the focus next year needs to be reducing the community waiting lists because we know that providing a limited or smaller amount of home help or home care for somebody before they fall or end up in hospital and need to be discharged with a more intensive home-care package will save us in the long run and will save that person the trauma of having gone to hospital. The focus next year must be on reducing the community waiting lists, which we have not really been able to tackle in the past few years.

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