Vol. 542 No. 6
206 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children the measures he has taken to clear the backlog of waiting lists for home based aids for the elderly since his appointment as Minister for Health and Children. [25501/01]
Additional funding of £780,000, 990,396, in 2000, and £5.49 million, 6.971million, in 2001, was provided for the improvement of community support structures specifically geared towards the support of older people in their homes through a range of measures. An extra £1 million, 1.2697 million, in 2000 – and £2 million, 2.539 million, in 2001, was made available in support of carers. A portion of this funding would have been used to supply home-based aids. I also made a specific allocation of £1.5 million, 1.9046 million, to the health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority, in October, 2000, for the purpose of supplying aids and appliances to older people.
