443. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE has assessed the gap between mileage paid by home support providers and the actual fuel and running costs carers incur on rural routes, where a carer covering about 100 km a day may receive a small fraction of the cost; whether the national hourly rate paid to providers includes a component for carers' travel costs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [75225/26]

As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.