Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First, there was not a 27% cut to home help hours last year. I am not sure where the Deputy got that figure. I assure her there was an increase of 754,000 hours of home help as a result of the budget last year. I do not know where the figure came from.

The Deputy will be aware that we are trying to introduce a new scheme, under statute, to guarantee home care delivery. We have a consultation process concluded. The report is due on my desk in the next week or two. I intend to put the associated measures into place as soon as I can with the co-operation of Members.

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