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

The Deputy is putting me on the spot as to what the actual budget is for this year. I believe it is €2.5 million. In 2020, 40,000 additional hours were added; in 2021, 40,000 additional hours were added; and in 2022, 120,000 additional hours were added. In 2023, 70,000 were added, and the Deputy has asked why there has been a drop. To be quite honest, it was to do with the recruitment of staff. The budget is going up to €2.5 million again, which equates to between 70,000 and 120,000 hours. Hopefully, that will bring more people on board. With the move from one Department to the other, we are also trying to clarify that PA is not home support. In some community healthcare organisations PA was diluted into home support. We are trying to take away the fog. That is why the PA group has been set up.

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