Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There was a question about the respite grant. The amount being spent on respite care was €752 million up to 2010 and that it will be almost €806 million in 2014, an increase of €53.9 million compared with when we came into office. That is an increase of 7.2%. As I am sure the Senator is aware, overall the number of caring recipients has increased from just over 76,000 in 2010 to almost 84,000 in 2014. This is an increase of 7,815 recipients or 10.3%. The number of respite care grants will have increased from 75,351 in 2010 to 88,710 in 2014, an increase of more than 13,000 or 17.7%. The Government is expending very significant additional resources on the respite care grant.