Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her question. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I wish everybody a happy, peaceful and restful Christmas and thank everyone in the House for the work they do.

The Deputy's question has been raised many times in the House. It is important to record that this year we have already delivered 2.5 million more home care hours than last year. A total of 55,000 people received home care every day in this country. I thank the Government for increasing the budget to €666 million. Funding is not the issue and the list of those waiting for funding has dropped by 88%, but there are 5,300 people waiting on home care supports. As we speak, Anne O'Connor, the chief operations officer of the HSE, and industrial relations, IR, in the HSE are having a meeting. I know for a fact that community healthcare organisation, CHO, 4, Cork and Kerry, is recruiting 300 staff into the HSE and we are doing targeted recruitment in areas, especially rural areas, where there is a lack of carers. We are trying to think outside the box and I am working on this every day to try to make a difference.

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