Paul Donnelly
Question:875. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the budget allocation for the seniors' alert scheme in 2020, 2021 and 2022, in tabular form. [11245/22]
View answerTuesday, 1 March 2022
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My Department is responsible for the Seniors Alert Scheme which encourages community support for vulnerable older people in our communities through the provision of personal monitored alarms to enable them to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. Funding is available under the scheme for the purchase by a registered community based-organisation of a personal alarm or pendant.
Following a review, an updated version of the scheme came into effect in November 2017. A number of changes were introduced at this time, including the provision of free monitoring for the first year and a revision of the living alone requirements.
The current version of the scheme came into effect in September 2021 and continues to incorporate these provisions, as well as introducing a new key feature which is the additional option of a digital alarm, for use with web based connections.
I am pleased to say that in recent years, demand for the Seniors Alert Scheme continues, with over 32,100 participants approved for the Scheme from 2020 to the end of January 2022 inclusive.
Since 2020, the budget allocation for the Scheme has been €2.3 million per annum, please see table 1 below.
|
Year |
Budget Allocation |
|
2020 |
€2.3 million |
|
2021 |
€2.3 million |
|
2022 |
€2.3 million |
Table 1: Budget Allocation for the SAS, 2020-2022
The total expenditure for the Scheme in 2020 was nearly €5.1 million and in 2021 was over €4.8 million. Given the demand for the scheme, savings were identified from other areas within my Department's allocation to ensure that all new applicants could be provided for.
As this is a demand led scheme, it will be kept under continuous review by myself and officials in my Department to ensure adequate funding can be made available to meet the requirements of all qualifying applicants. There is also provision under the Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan 2022 for funding to meet the additional and exceptional demands of the Scheme.