I and many other Deputies have raised with the Tánaiste the issue of home help hours. The Tánaiste and the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, keep telling us there is extra money going into the service, yet the number of people on waiting lists are increasing. There are 7,300 people on national waiting lists for home help hours and it is causing massive delays in our health service. The Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for mental health and older people, Deputy Jim Daly, fessed up about this on Tuesday when he said he was ashamed and embarrassed any time he met somebody on the street. Does the Tánaiste share that sense of shame and embarrassment about those waiting lists? Will the Government get to the bottom of these delays and deal with them once and for all?

The waiting lists are too long. Many people who need, want and should get home help are not getting sufficient home help hours. That is something the Government wants to correct. We are putting significantly more money into home supports each year. I can reel off the figures for the period from 2015 until 2019 for the Deputy if he wants but close to €150 million of extra expenditure has been provided in that time. There has also been a significant increase in demand, however. We are seeing many more elderly people who want to live at home and need supports. They are getting family support and deserve and need the financial support of the State to do that. We will continue to put more money into this area to try to reduce the waiting lists.