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

I thank the Senator again. It is important to say the Government is committed to trying to establish schemes which are focused on prevention and early intervention in respect of appropriate care settings. The point that the Senator has just made is fair. The cost of this scheme is one eighth of the cost of going into a nursing home. It is also keeping people in their community. What the Senator described to me is a family network. However, at the end of the day, costs are rising. I will discuss it further with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. There is also the fact that within the gift of the HSE locally we do not need to stand behind legislation. There is a word called “discretion”. If there is a need to support that particular house or any of the 17 houses, it should be looked at in the light that we look at all other providers in the areas of disability and older persons. We treat all equally.