Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With the support of the Minister over the past number of years, I have built on the budget for PA hours. We cannot conflate what home support and PA hours are. They are two separate things. PA is the arms and legs of an individual to ensure that he or she has the right to participate in his or her community. I recently held a meeting where Ms Shelly Gaynor was my speaker on this matter, in addition to Home Care Direct. In fact, I am very passionate about a personalised budget and personalised hours. We cannot talk about decanting people from nursing homes if we are not in a position to put in place the PA support that is needed to incorporate people back into their communities so they can readjust into them.

In the context of employment, if you want to participate in employment you need to have that PA support piece. In the past, perhaps, it all went into the big black hole of health, and PA and home support all became the one thing. However, under the new Department, we are able to see and follow the funding line for PA support.

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