Vol. 555 No. 2
114 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children the basis for excluding relatives of the elderly and the disabled from the home help allowance; and the definition of a relative in relation to such exclusion. [18069/02]
The home help scheme was introduced in 1972 under a provision of the 1970 Health Act. At that time, the chief executive officers of the health boards took a collective decision not to engage family members and relatives as paid home helps. This was in recognition of the fact that the initiative was not intended to replace the existing informal arrangements whereby family members and relatives provided assistance in the tasks of daily living to many old people living at home. Legally, family members are not debarred from acting as home helps but the practice has been that they provided support to older relatives, without payment. There have, I understand, been some instances where a distant relative, e.g., a cousin, has been employed as a home help but these have been in exceptional circumstances.
I am happy to say that things have improved for informal family carers in recent years. The carer's allowance is available, from the Department of Social and Family Affairs, to qualified applicants, and the health boards have received specific funding to provide support and assistance to family carers. This funding now amounts to just over €6 million per annum.
