To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety whether he has considered introducing a health economist to determine an accurate cost of home care provision.

Given the pressures facing the care market and the difficult economic environment in which we are operating in I have instructed officials to undertake a review and analysis of the state of the social care market with an emphasis on the economic outlook and the longer term sustainability of the current arrangements.

This will be used to improve our understanding of the current challenges and as a platform for developing our policy and operational responses.