Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I said, it will be a matter for the new Government to decide the timeline in that regard. A huge amount of preparatory work is being carried out in the Department of Health, including a massive public consultation in which many thousands of people gave their views.

I do not want to tie the hands of a new Government but I would like to see that prioritised by this House. It would be possible to bring forward legislation towards the end of this year or at the very start of 2021. Being realistic, this would have an implementation time of 2022. In the meantime, we need to look at what we can all do in future budgets to increase the number of home care hours but it is a massive reform and a Government that prioritised it would be a very wise one.

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