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

As I said earlier, the demand for home help hours has always outstripped the supply. The biggest challenge for west Cork, which I also represent, is getting people to provide the service. It is not funding, it is getting personnel. When the Government came into office, we were spending €300 million annually on home help whereas we spent €450 million this year. While that is a 50% increase, it is still not meeting the existing demand. I acknowledge that readily. We are trying to introduce a statutory scheme. I have committed to doing it by 2021. Like the fair deal scheme, the availability of home help will be guaranteed by statute. We have many bridges to cross first.

See this speech in context