Authors of a new report say it's time some people in NI started paying for the care they receive at home

Is it time people started paying for the care they receive in their homes? That's one of the recommendations from a long-awaited report into the challenges facing social care here in Northern Ireland. The report was commissioned by Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill when she was health minister and written by two social care academics based in England. It says that domiciliary care - that's the personal care and help with household tasks that people receive in their own homes - should be means-tested. At the moment it's provided free-of-charge across the board. Chris spoke to John Kennedy who is one of the authors of the report, and got the views of commentator Brendan Mulgrew, Bumper Graham from union NIPSA and Ann Watson from the Pensioners' Parliament.

Also on the programme, we started the programme today talking about the crisis in social care funding. And there's a crisis, too, in our schools. The education system in Northern Ireland is facing a £350m funding gap by 2019 if it does not get more money. The warning comes from the Education Authority which has also revealed that almost 400 schools will be in budget deficit this year - the highest number ever. The authority has been briefing head teachers and politicians, including the Alliance party's education spokesman Chris Lyttle. He joined Chris Buckler this morning along with headteacher Kathleen O'Hare from Hazelwood Integrated School in Newtownabbey.

And, less than two weeks now until Christmas, hopefully you are all in the festive mood and are rockin' around your Christmas tree - but just how important is a Christmas tree to you town or city? Well it seems across Northern Ireland many have been left feeling underwhelmed by their council's effort.