Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is an area which has very considerable priority. The Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee, is establishing a consultation process on the issue of home care support because home caring will become a real challenge in the future. There are 55,000 people receiving carer's allowance and 17,000 receiving a home care package, with 11 million home help hours. As they all represent increases on the figures for the years before, there is increased investment. In total, it represents about €1 billion of investment in home caring, but the Government recognises that we need more flexible models. The Minister of State responsible, Deputy Helen McEntee, is looking at how we can integrate some of them and perhaps look at other elements such as the tax relief now provided. Can we design a better long-term support package to keep people independent in their homes, which is a shared objective across the House?

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