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

I do not have all the micro-details the Deputy seeks, such as the cost of private staff versus public staff. I would have to come back to the Deputy on that. The Government increased the budget by €30 million and committed to an increase in home help hours of 800,000 this year in addition to what was done last year. I expect that to be delivered by the HSE, and that is my input from a policy level. After that, it is up to the HSE to deliver the service, but I can of course hold the HSE accountable, get the figures for the Deputy and find out the breakdown as to how many of the staff are private and how many are public. As I understand it, though, the HSE only engages private services where it cannot get its own staff to do provide a service. I will get the figures for the Deputy. I am happy to do so.

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