Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not take any lecture from the Deputy. He should not start pointing the gun at me again.

Deputy Smyth raised an important question and the Deputies might afford her the opportunity of receiving an answer to it. She is right. I consider Cavan-Monaghan has received an inappropriate distribution of homecare hours in recent years. Yes, the extra €26 million that will be spent as part of the winter plan between now and the end of the year will allow the provision of additional homecare packages, from which Cavan-Monaghan will benefit. Most importantly, the agreement we reached collectively on the provision of additional homecare services in 2020 will see the allocation of 1 million additional home help hours. This means that in 2020 we will for the first time in quite a few years see a reduction in the homecare waiting list. Of course, we know that the real answer is the putting in place of a statutory homecare scheme, to answer Deputy Michael Collins' question. We will proceed with a pilot scheme next year.

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