The needs of our older people are, and will remain, a very high priority for me and for the Government, and the resources that are available will be applied to provide the best possible mix of supports and services in a way that most effectively matches the needs and preferences of older people themselves, with a particular focus on enabling people to live as independently as possible in the community.
The total budget for long-term residential care was €994.7m in 2012, €974m in 2013 and is €939m for 2014. According to the Appropriation Accounts published on the Comptroller and Auditor General's website, the expenditure outturn in 2012 was €962.6m. The outturn for 2013 is not yet available.
The €939m available for the Nursing Homes Support Scheme in 2014 represents a reduction of €35m on the 2013 provision. The target in the HSE's National Service Plan 2013 was for 22,761 persons to be in receipt of financial support for long-term nursing home care by year end. The target in the National Service Plan 2014 is 22,061 recipients.
However, the National Service Plan 2014 indicates that €23m is being transferred from the Nursing Homes Support Scheme to provide additional community services, with a view to allowing more older people to be supported in their own homes and communities for longer. This reorientation is in line with both Government policy and with the expressed wishes of older people.
At end October 2013 there were 1,434 applications for the Scheme in the process of being determined. At that time, each application was taking almost 4-6 weeks to process.
On the 10th January there were 512 people on the placement list (i.e. approved for the Scheme but awaiting the release of funding) for the Scheme. At that stage it was taking about 4 weeks for funding to issue, from the date that the person was first placed on the list.
