Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am familiar with HaloCare and what it does. It complements what we are trying to do, which is to develop and fund businesses and organisations that can create jobs and, more importantly, can have an impact on society both within the country and beyond.

The Government is committed to keeping people living in their homes for as long as they possibly can. We developed a scheme across a number of Departments to provide supports to enable that and to provide other suitable accommodation when the need arises if they can no longer stay in their own homes. I visited Carlow a few times and I have seen some lovely projects there. I believe the Deputy and other people down there understand that concept quite well.

The €90 million innovation fund the Deputy mentioned is committed to supporting businesses like HaloCare and social enterprise initiatives as well. It is a really exciting project and another tool in our kit to be able to assist companies in bringing their concepts, ideas, initiatives and projects to a new level. We have identified a gap in the market and we think this fund will be able to help these businesses with the investment they need. This €90 million fund will lead onto a much greater investment with matching funding from outside as well.

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