Vol. 501 No. 5
80 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the acknowledged benefits arising from the home help service; the role of home helps; the training they obtain; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6530/99]
81 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health and Children the level of public savings to hospitals, nursing homes, housing and social welfare payments that arises from the home help scheme; the research, if any, carried out in the area; the proposals, if any, to improve the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6532/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 81 together.
The underlying principle in relation to the care of older people is to maintain them in their own home for as long as possible. I am conscious of the fact that one of the most effective tools in this area is the home help service.
I am committed to developing the home help service as a key service in supporting dependent people in their own homes. Additional funding has been provided in the current year to bring the minimum rate of payment for all home helps up to £3 per hour from 1 April 1999. I see this as part of a phased improvement in the rate of pay for home helps. A sum of £1.5 million has been provided to extend the coverage of the home help service by providing more hours, as well as training courses for home helps.
Following consultations with the chief executive officers of the health boards, my Department commissioned an examination of the future organisation of the home help service by the Policy Research Centre of the National College of Ireland under the direction of the National Council on Ageing and Older People. This report, The Future Organisation of the Home Help Service in Ireland, was published recently and is being considered in my Department and the health boards. I am arranging to have a copy of the report forwarded to the Deputy.
