Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and for his persistent work on the matter on behalf of the people of counties Longford and Westmeath. Last year in Longford and Westmeath, more than 660,000 hours of home help were delivered. That was more than 51,000 hours ahead of target. Funding has been provided for this year to at least maintain that level of service. I am pleased to tell the Deputy that a recruitment campaign is under way in Longford and Westmeath for healthcare support assistants. So often, as the Deputy knows, this is not just a funding issue but a staffing issue.

The Deputy is right. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, who has responsibility for older people, is present. We want to introduce a statutory home care scheme. It is not right that the only statutory scheme in respect of how we care for older people is the nursing home scheme. We need to provide a statutory scheme for people to get care in their homes. That is in the programme for Government and will be progressed by the Minister of State.

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