John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a commitment in the programme for Government to increase funding every year for home care packages and home help services. Yesterday when the Taoiseach was answering questions from Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, he said: "Extra money has been allocated for home help and extra hours are being worked." He continued: "The overall allocation has increased and the number of hours has increased." I was concerned because people presenting at my clinic were having difficulty in accessing home help hours. I took the liberty of asking the Minister who, in turn, asked the HSE to respond to me. I wanted to see if I was seeing the rate of increase that might have been expected. In 2016, in my part of Dublin, there were 166,471 home help hours. In 2017 there were 166,471 which means that the number of home help hours in my part of Dublin in 2017 is exactly the same as that in 2016. The level of expenditure is also the same. The programme for Government acknowledged that there would be an increase. Yesterday the Taoiseach said there was an increase. If the increase is on a global basis, people living in my area have been discriminated against. Will the Minister clarify the position?

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