Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 15 Nov 2011

Vol. 211 No. 7

Adjournment Matters

Fire Stations

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis na Seanadóirí a scaoil ar dtús mé. Is mór an cúnamh dom é. D'ardaigh mé ceist maidir le seirbhís dóiteáin i gConamara theas cheana. Is ceist í seo atá ag dul ar aghaidh go leanúnach. Tá sé ag déanamh an-imní don phobal ansin. Tá an gá atá ann seirbhís dóiteáin a lonnú i gConamara á phlé agus á bhrú agus tá stocaireacht á dhéanamh ag grúpaí éagsúla, Coiste Chearta Chonamara ina measc. Ba mhaith liom an rud a chur i gcomhthéacs. Deireann an tAcht Seirbhísí Dóiteáin 1981 nach mór d'údarás dóiteáin "soláthar a dhéanamh chun dóiteáin i bhfoirgnimh agus in áiteanna eile de gach cineál ina limistéar feidhme a mhúchadh go tapaidh agus go héifeachtach agus chun daoine agus maoin a chosaint ar dhíobháil ó dhóiteán agus a tharrtháil ón díobháil sin". Ní dóigh liom go bhfuil an tseirbhís sin á fháil againn i ndeisceart Chonamara. Ní dóigh liom go bhfuil cothrom na féinne faighte againn. Is ar an mbunús sin a bhfuil an cheist seo á ardú agam leis an Aire Stáit.

I am raising the issue of the fire brigade service in south Connemara. The 1981 Act states that a timely and fast fire service should be available in all areas covered by the local authorities providing those services. There are seven fire brigade stations in the east of County Galway, one in the city, one on the Aran Islands and one in Clifden in Connemara. During the years there have been a number of fires in the area. When there was one in Carraroe a number of years ago, it took an hour for the fire brigade to reach it. Another fire in Tirnee took an hour and a quarter to reach. A third in Lettermullen took an hour and three quarters to reach. These times are unacceptable to our community. Many groups have been pushing for a better fire service in our area, among them Coiste Chearta Chonamara.

A great deal of work has been done at county council level. While the will is there, we are unsure as to whether the resources are being put in place. We keep getting sent from pillar to post by the council. Táimid ag lorg soiléiriú ar an gceist seo ón Aire Stáit anocht. An féidir leí a chur in iúl dúinn cén uair a bheidh seirbhís dóiteáin cheart, mar atá dlite ag muintir Conamara, ar fáil dóibh?

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Róisín Shortall)

Gabhaim buíochas le Seanadóir Ó Clochartaigh as ucht an cheist seo a ardu. Ba mhaith liom an deis seo a ghlacadh i dtús báire chun aitheantas a thabhairt do na seirbhísí dóiteáin agus éigeandála a mbíonn ag obair go dian dícheallach ar son an phobail ó cheann ceann na tíre. Is léir dom go bhfuil árd-mheas ag daoine orthu.

Fire services for Galway city and county are delivered by Galway County Council on the basis of an agreement between both authorities. The service serves a population of 250,000 and responds to 2,200 call-outs annually. There are ten fire stations in the county — Galway city, Athenry, Ballinasloe, Clifden, Gort, Loughrea, Mountbellew, Portumna, Tuam and Inis Mor. The Galway city brigade is staffed by 36 full-time firefighters with backup from rostered and retained city firefighters. The brigade covers the city and areas west of it, including south Connemara. Fire cover in all the other brigade areas are provided by a retained system.

The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government supports Galway County Council through the setting of general policy and guidance and the provision of capital funding, including the recoupment — within the overall funding available — of costs incurred by it in respect of the construction and upgrading of fire stations as well as the approved purchase of fire appliances and emergency equipment. Capital investment of some €8.28 million has been grant aided to the council under the annual fire services capital programme from 2002 to 2010.

A review of fire services in Galway is being undertaken by Galway County Council. This review, which is being conducted throughout the city and county, including the Connemara region, is being informed by an integrated risk management analysis. The output from the analysis will inform local decision making on the effective deployment and use of resources with a view to ensuring an appropriate balance between prevention, protection and response measures. In addition, national guidance on a wide variety of community fire safety issues is being developed by the Department's national directorate for fire and emergency management in collaboration with fire services. This guidance will also be of assistance to Galway County Council in the work that is under way.

A primary concern of the national directorate is the development of consistent and effective fire services to keep communities safe from fire and other emergencies. Value for money is also a key concern and future developments, including investment in infrastructure, will need to be brought to fruition within tighter resource constraints. Further support from the Department's fire services capital programme to Galway County Council in the period ahead will have regard to the council's priorities, the extent of previous investment, the value for money offered by proposals, the spread of existing facilities and the totality of demands from fire authorities countrywide.

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh

We are aware of the national framework but I am afraid it is a ceist of kicking the can down the road in a fire scenario. It is blatantly obvious that, with call-out times of one and a quarter hours in Connemara, it is completely unacceptable. A service much closer to south Connemara must be made available. If it is decided, under the national framework, that there is a service needed in Connemara, will the Government make available the resources to provide it?

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I am responding to this matter on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. I will relate the views of Senator Ó Clochartaigh to the Department. Safety must be the number one priority but, equally, we are operating within constrained economic circumstances.

Nursing Homes Support Scheme

Senator Tom Sheahan

This matter concerns the change in respect of Valentia Community Hospital, which is now being classified as a private nursing home. This is a retrograde step and a mistake. It should not have happened. The Health Act 2007 provided for three categories of nursing homes — public, private and voluntary. By its name, Valentia Community Hospital should be classified as a public facility. The Act, which predates the fair deal scheme, stated that each bed in a public facility was funded by the State up to the maximum of 90% and the people in public beds paid a nominal fee from their pensions. However, beds in private nursing homes were only funded to the tune of 40% by the State and the person in the bed had to make a contribution of 60%. The practice in Valentia Community Hospital was for all patients to make a small contribution on the basis that the hospital had public beds. The State was paying up to 90% of the sum. I cannot understand how Valentia Community Hospital was categorised as a private hospital in the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009, nor can I accept it.

Pearl S. Buck, who won the Nobel Prize for literature, stated: "Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members." The hospital, from the ground it is built on to each and every one who receives or provides a service, is part of the social fabric that is the community in Valentia and Iveragh, a community of family, neighbours and the area at large. This is a community whose members can avail of a resource when they are at their most vulnerable. It is a time none of us wishes for, the day one has to decide that one is no longer able to cope alone, to admit this to the wider community, to give up and allow and trust the staff of Valentia Community Hospital to provide the care needed. This is not an easy decision to make and sometimes medical necessity saves the individual from making it. Having someone cared for in their community by an extended community who will support them until death is the reality of long-stay care. The value it has for the people affected is beyond fiscal calculation.

At present there is a capacity of 65 beds in Iveragh between Valentia and Caherciveen hospitals for a population of 7,500. If Valentia hospital is not reclassified as a public facility, we will only have 33 beds for a population of 7,500. That is not a great delivery of service because the consequence is that people will have to be facilitated in Killarney, representing a round trip of 110 miles. The fair deal scheme was about giving everyone equal access so that they would be looked after in the community. The consequence will be beds located 55 miles away. This does not involve fiscal prudence.

Today, people from Valentia who are in Kerry General Hospital require a bed in Valentia or Caherciveen. While the bed manager is awaiting a bed in Caherciveen, the people in question have not been offered a bed in Valentia. I wonder if there is an agenda to close Valentia by stealth and maintain it as a private nursing home. In that case, the subvention from the NTPF amounts to €750 per bed if it is classified as a private nursing home. However, Caherciveen is classified as a public hospital and is in receipt of a subvention of €1,150. By stealth, Valentia hospital will close. Those awaiting discharge in Tralee must remain in their Tralee hospital beds, thus reducing the capacity of Tralee to facilitate new admissions. This is not an unfamiliar story and the disputed bed lists are now a part of any hospital day. If the patients in question were discharged to Valentia hospital, it would mean that Valentia would be working at capacity and working at maximum value in terms of the staff to patient ratio. Beds would become available in Kerry General Hospital for those waiting on trolleys or those walking in the doors for the six-hour person centred care on arrival at Kerry General Hospital.

What are the social and human costs in the long term in terms of the reduction in service if we reduce the number of beds to 33? It is devastating in the short term to think of moving the existing patients to another care facility, if indeed it exists. What is the social damage to the existing families and support systems, such as friends and neighbours dropping in to visit one person but calling on everyone? The existing 66 beds in Iveragh help to alleviate the stress on Kerry General Hospital. However, at peak admission times, such as in winter, the existing capacity is challenged. Surely, maintaining this existing infrastructure is key to the long-term sustainability of our community and its vulnerable people. We should be thinking of increasing capacity in the long term and not this potentially devastating reduction in services.

I ask the Minister of State, on behalf of the people of Valentia and Iveragh to assist the committee of the Valentia Community Hospital in its endeavours to secure the future of the hospital. Valentia Community Hospital needs to be reclassified similar to public providers and the State funding per bed needs to be increased to a level that makes the service sustainable. As a public representative, I ask the Minister of State to make this happen and to maintain what is a community, voluntary, not-for-profit hospital. The people of Valentia and Iveragh will do the rest. As citizens of the State, they want a fair deal and a people first health service equal to any citizen of the State.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I thank the Senator for raising this issue and I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Health.

Valentia Community Hospital provides long-term and respite care for older people. It is run by a voluntary organisation, Valentia Community Health and Welfare Association Limited, and has a service level agreement with the HSE under section 39 of the Health Act 2004. All organisations with service level agreements under this section of the Health Act 2004 are required to negotiate with the NTPF as they provide services in addition to, not on behalf of, the HSE, and are therefore not legally regarded as public services.

In the past, Valentia Community Hospital was allocated a lump sum annually by the HSE. The nursing homes support scheme, the fair deal, was introduced in October 2009 in order to address the fundamental inequity in the treatment of public and private long-term nursing home residents and to alleviate the financial hardship being experienced by long-term residents in private nursing homes. Prior to the introduction of the fair deal scheme, many people in long-term nursing home care experienced unaffordable care costs over periods of many years. The result was that many people had to sell or remortgage their houses or had to turn to family and friends in order to find the money to meet their care costs. A fundamental purpose of the scheme, therefore, was to offer assurance to one of the most vulnerable groups in society, those in need of long-term nursing home care, that such care will be affordable and will remain affordable for as long as they need it.

In order to achieve these objectives of equity and affordability, fair deal involves a fundamental change in the way in which long-term nursing home care is funded and, consequently, the way in which nursing homes and community hospitals are funded. The new scheme supports the individuals in need of long-term nursing home care, not the facilities providing the care. This means that money follows the patient regardless of whether they choose public, private or voluntary nursing homes. It ensures that these facilities are not being funded for empty beds.

In order to qualify for the scheme all private nursing homes and voluntary nursing homes which previously received funding for long-term residential care under section 39 of the Health Act 2004, including Valentia Community Hospital, must negotiate and agree a price for the cost of care with the National Treatment Purchase Fund. This is a necessary feature of the scheme due to the commitment by the State to meet the full balance of the cost of care over and above a person's contribution. The NTPF is independent in the performance of this function and in carrying it out it must ensure value for money for both the individual and the State. The NTPF negotiates with each nursing home individually and may examine the records and accounts of nursing homes as part of the process. This method of negotiation is necessary in order to ensure that the State obtains the best value for each individual in a nursing home and to comply with competition law. As already stated, the nursing homes support scheme only applies to long-term nursing home care.

Valentia Community Hospital can continue to have separate agreements with the Health Service Executive for the provision of other services such as day care, respite and convalescence. There have been ongoing discussions between the board of management of Valentia Community Health and Welfare Association Limited and the HSE with regard to future service provision. In addition, the Minister for Health met a delegation from Valentia Community Hospital in June. I understand that following the meeting the HSE is continuing to engage with the board of management with regard to the future of the service.

Senator Tom Sheahan

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response, yet it does not go to the kernel of the problem. If Valentia Community Hospital is not classified as a public facility, as it has always operated and was funded accordingly, we will be down to 33 beds for a population of 7,500 people. We have been told by the health service to excel, to provide the best possible care and to place the patient at the centre of the service but it would appear, in this case, that fiscal policy, not the people, is the central component. It has been argued that Valentia Community Hospital is a private facility, which is untrue, because of what was happening there, where the State was covering the beds up to 90%. That is what happened in public facilities, whereas private facilities were funded only up to 40%. I ask the Minister of State to convey to the Minister for Health re the reduction in funding for Valentia Community Hospital per bed, the significant difference whereby in the case of two hospitals providing the same service, approximately 15 miles apart, that one receives €750 per bed while the other receives €1,100 per bed.

Society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them for the test of a civilisation is the way it cares for its helpless members.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I note the Senator's comments. It is an unfortunate downside of the scheme as it operates that a voluntary organisation and a hospital are regarded as private facilities rather than as a public hospital. That is the way the scheme operates. I am not sure there is much scope in terms of the long stay beds. Clearly, in regard to the other facilities provided, there is scope for the hospital to make arrangements with the HSE and to agree pricing. In the manner in which the fair deal scheme operates, I am not sure there is much scope. I accept the Deputy's point that they are losing out but I will relay his concerns.

Senator Tom Sheahan

An amendment might be appropriate.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I will suggest that to the Minister.

Mental Health Strategy

Senator Deirdre Clune

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this issue and I am pleased the Minister of State is here to respond. The issue I wish to raise is the need to develop a dementia strategy. I thank the Alzheimer Society of Ireland for constantly keeping this issue to the fore. Recently it provided a briefing for Oireachtas members at which it outlined the need to put a dementia strategy in place. As the population ages and lives longer such a strategy is important. It is estimated that there are 44,000 people with dementia in Ireland. It is estimated that in 15 years' time there will be 70,000 with dementia and in 25 years' time there will be 104,000 with dementia. We all know somebody or some family who is affected by dementia.

We speak a great deal about the condition and its growing numbers. In many ways it is hidden in society, because we do not see people on trolleys. Generally speaking there is no need for medical care, except towards the end, but there is a need for care and caring services to be available in our communities. In many ways we are playing catch-up. There are large gaps in our services and it appears there are different services available in different areas, which is not satisfactory; hence the need for a strategy.

Prior to the last general election, the Minister of State as well as myself were asked to follow this through and pledge to do what we could to develop a strategy for dementia. We need to establish the facts, the trends, the costs associated with such a strategy, the services that need to be put in place, the gaps in the service, best practice and how best we can serve the needs of the individual who has dementia or Alzheimer's disease and their carers and families. A timely diagnosis will always be important.

Primary health care provision will be extremely important initially to support families. This is all about supporting families and their carers. My experience is that families do not want the care of the individual taken over by the State but want to be supported and helped. Community services are very important in this area. On average a dementia patient, with medical intervention for treating physical needs, can live for seven to ten years and longer in some cases. Therefore, it is important that local community services, public health nurse and occupational therapy services are available. I realise there are costs associated with the strategy.

If planned properly we can have a strategy where individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's can look to see what the State can provide or where they will fit in the years to come. It is not about money all the time but it will be about providing essential primary care services.

An issue I have come across recently in my constituency, which was mentioned by families seeking services, is that the public health nurse is not available to patients who do not have a medical card. I would have thought the services would be provided based on the care needs of the individual irrespective of whether they have a medical card. If patients do not have the support of a public health nurse in the community, the only recourse is the hospital or nursing care. I recognise the strain on services but care should be provided on the basis of need and eligibility for aids appliances, nursing home care, respite can be based on medical card. Clearly, a public health nurse is essential to supporting those needs.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I thank the Senator for raising this issue as it gives me an opportunity to update the House on the matter.

Dementia is a most distressing condition for those suffering from it and for their families and presents a significant and growing challenge to health and social services. Alzheimer's disease represents about 70% of the cases of dementia. People are living longer and, as a consequence, they are more likely to develop some form of dementia. While dementia is not solely related to age, the prevalence is higher in older people and increases with age. It is estimated that about 5% of people aged over 65 have some form of dementia with this figure increasing to 20% for people aged over 80. Research and published work on dementia has outlined the complexity and range of issues involved in its effective management. This work also emphasises the need for co-ordinated, multi-layered and well-resourced services that respond to the individual needs of people with dementia and of those who care for them.

There is an intimate link in Government policy between the care of older people and that of people with dementia. It stresses the need to provide support in dignity and independence, through the provision of appropriate services to the people concerned and their carers. The person with dementia can be supported through a range of core community services provided by the public health nurse or the psychiatry old age team, home help service, therapy services, assistive technology and other such services. Attendance at day care and the provision of respite care can also assist greatly in supporting the person to live at home. These services are provided directly by the HSE and voluntary agencies such as the Alzheimer's Society. In recent years, the availability of home care packages has also contributed significantly to assisting older people to continue to live at home.

Since 1 July 2009, all designated centres for older people are subject to independent registration and inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority. The Health Act 2007 (Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres) Regulations 2009 underpin the National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People in Ireland. These standards include supplementary criteria for dementia specific residential care units which should be read in conjunction with the general standards.

The Government is fully aware of the challenges that Alzheimer's disease and other dementia pose and will continue to pose for us in the coming years. A commitment was given in the programme for Government to develop a national Alzheimer's and other dementia strategy by 2013. The Department of Health has started the process of developing a policy on dementia that will support the delivery of long-term care services, having regard to future demographic trends and the consequential increase in demand for long-term care. This policy will be developed on the basis of the best evidence available from national and international sources. Officials in the Department have engaged with relevant stakeholder groups in the first stage of the process, which is to assemble the research and evidence upon which the policy will be developed. I expect this will be received shortly, at which stage work on the policy will commence formally.

Senator Deirdre Clune

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I am aware of the commitment in the programme for Government and I am glad work has begun on developing a strategy. Can she reply to my question about the provision of care for medical card holders and non-medical card holders? Does she have that information?

Deputy Róisín Shortall

The Senator has raised a valid point. Health services do not operate uniformly across the State and, for historic and other reasons, people without a medical card have access to services in certain areas while, in other areas, medical card holders have difficulty accessing the same services. There is an uneven pattern in respect of many services and the Department is committed to introducing legislation on eligibility, which is a thorny issue. That has been promised for several years and we have not seen a result from that work. However, it is an issue.

In general, we should move towards a model where services are provided locally as far as possible, whether those are services for the elderly, mental health services or general health services. That means providing services at the lowest level of complexity to people. Public health nurses are a key component of such services in local communities and I am concerned about current gaps in community services. There are more than 400 vacancies at primary care level for public health nurses and a range of other allied health professionals. That will be the greatest challenge to rolling out the primary care reforms promised in the programme for Government.

There is no standard approach. While in theory there is, the practice is different around the country. Public health nurses will be the mainstay of the health service in the future and we want to develop their role.

Care of the Elderly

Senator Fidelma Healy Eames

I wish to raise the benefits of social monitored alarms for older people in terms of independent living and longevity and to request that funding be maintained at current levels in the budget. This is an important principle and it should underpin any older people's strategy. Community Supports for Older People, CSOP, is currently funded through the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Under this scheme, anybody aged over 65 can apply for a social monitored alarm. It also covers monitored smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors and security lighting. This means that once the alarms are installed in older people's homes, they are centrally monitored by a company whose staff can respond to the call of an older person. Each application needs to be made through a recognised community group such as Community Alert or Neighbourhood Watch, which make an application to the Department on behalf of a number of such local people within their respective communities. The scheme then provides funding for the group per piece of equipment. For example, €250 is provided for a social monitored alarm, €65 for a smoke alarm, €100 for a carbon monoxide alarm, and €120 for security lighting. Carbon monoxide and smoke alarms can save a person's life while security lighting gives peace of mind and a social monitored alarm means somebody is at the end of a telephone line when an older person needs help.

This funding allows some or all of this equipment to be installed in the older person's home and, importantly, it promotes independence and peace of mind for them. Funding this year will be approximately €1 million, which is a significant reduction on the allocation of approximately €4 million in 2007 but, nonetheless, it is greatly necessary, no matter how small. In excess of 3,000 people benefit from this funding and in light of the increasing feeling of insecurity and isolation among older people, it is imperative that funding be retained to ensure this service can be rolled out to more people in need of these supports.

While the funding has been significantly reduced, maintaining the current funding of €1 million annually would be of great value societally. Older people are one of the most vulnerable groups in society and anything that helps them to remain in their own homes free of fear and with peace of mind is an investment in their quality of life. In the past three years, the number of calls made to one company with 35,000 clients has dramatically increased by approximately 30% to 350,000 calls per annum, which is incredible. The company receives an average of ten calls per older person. The main drivers of this increase are attempted burglaries, increasing isolation, fraud being perpetrated on the elderly and vulnerable, and a fear factor that exists among that demographic.

I asked what fraud means and the example I was given was of somebody knocking an older person's door to say he had found a €20 note outside the door and asking whether it was his or hers. It is a way of getting into the house. Isolation can range from people living rurally to others in cities who have no family members and who see themselves as easy targets and, ultimately, victims of crime. One company regularly has clients contact them merely to speak to another human as it may have been days since they last spoke to somebody. Up to 85% of all its calls are to reassure clients who feel isolated or vulnerable or who are in genuine need of help. The isolation felt by older people is stark. The number of lives saved over the years by this service is incalculable. When funding was suspended by our predecessors for six months in 2008, there was a huge backlash against them. A recent HSE-sponsored project that involved the installation of such equipment in 120 older people's homes on a national basis and which was assessed by public health nurses found that telecare should be regarded as a substantive ingredient of home care services, especially for people with high levels of need and those who are assessed as likely to need residential or similar forms of care. It also found that the HSE and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government should further develop assessment arrangements and facilities to support the deployment of telecare services that will support dependant persons.

I was struck by the results of the study by the public health nurses. They found it gave older people peace of mind, kept people in their own homes and assessed some as likely to need to go into care within six months. It would save the State millions of euro and is a good preventive measure. In terms of the Minister's brief of primary health care and health in the community, it is very important.

Usage by the most needy and high risk clients reflected the level of dependency described in the assessments undertaken by HSE staff. Usage of the telecare system was highest among those who had chronic, painful and disabling physical health conditions and those who had mobility problems, when those who used it a lot for reassurance are excluded from activation data. Those are the people we want to use it so it is great they are using it. By supporting clients' preferences to remain at home, telecare is likely to contribute to the appropriate use of limited and specialist resources and support the most effective use of finances. It is a good investment in older people's health. Telecare is considered by users and carers to be easy to use and is well received.

I am seeking a commitment from the Minister of State that the budget for this project will not be cut and that she will communicate the importance of this at Cabinet level and to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

I have given to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the accounts of one publicly supported company in Ireland that provides these socially monitored alarms that is undercutting a private company that provides the same supports. The company's details show it got Government grants of €165,000 in 2010 and €195,000 in 2009. I mention that because the private company is providing the same service without any support. There is no need for the Government grants when companies can work through the fund given to older people's supports. It is a waste of public money if the service can be privately provided.

We must maintain the supports in the community for older people in order that they can live a life as free of fear as possible while allowing them to stay in their own homes for as long as they can. At the same time, we should be aware of where money is being wasted. I do not know if the grants were paid in 2011, but they certainly were in 2009 and 2010.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I am pleased to have an opportunity to address the Seanad on the benefits of socially monitored alarms for older people to promote independent living. This year alone the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government will assist over 7,000 older people by providing grants for this vital equipment.

The new seniors alert scheme was introduced on 24 May 2010 and replaced the scheme of community support for older people. The scheme provides grant support towards the cost of supplying and installing items of safety and security equipment to enable older people without sufficient means to continue to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. The eligibility criteria have remained broadly the same as they were under the CSOP but community groups have been given improved guidance and information on how to determine eligibility. This is central to the improvements introduced in the new scheme. The CSOP was confined to those aged 65 years and older who were considered vulnerable and this left a lot to the discretion of volunteers. Community groups requested greater guidance in this regard and the revised scheme states more explicitly the criteria to be used.

Generally, a person will be eligible for grant support if he or she is aged 65 years or older, of limited means and resources, living alone or with another person who meets the eligibility criteria and is able to benefit from the equipment supplied. Grants may be provided towards the cost of supplying and installing equipment. The grants include up to €240 for personal monitored alert systems with pendant, up to €75 for monitored smoke detectors, €100 for monitored carbon monoxide detectors, up to €50 for additional pendants or reinstallation, as much as €120 for internal emergency lighting, and €50 for external security lighting.

Funding of €2.35 million has been provided for the seniors alert scheme in 2011. The Minister anticipates that some 7,000 older persons will benefit from the scheme this year. To the end of October 2011, some €2.054 million in grant support has been provided to 374 community groups for the provision of items of safety and security equipment to 6,539 older people.

The changes introduced as part of the review of the scheme have made a significant impact on its operation and availability. The Minister is very conscious of the benefits of the seniors alert scheme, which provides security and the ability to achieve independent living at home. He will do his utmost to ensure that this scheme can continue into the future. This will be in the context, however, of reduced funding being made available to Departments in 2012. Personal security is a critical factor in people being able to remain in their homes and in many cases this has been a life-saver for people.

The Minister will take into account the benefits of this scheme in promoting independent living for so many and the possibility of doing this at a limited cost to the State in any future decisions on funding of the seniors alert scheme.

Senator Fidelma Healy Eames

I thank the Minister of State and congratulate her as the figures are more positive than I thought. The key point I made about the publicly supported company that is undercutting the private company is that in its accounts, it awarded administrative expenses of €486,000 in 2010 and €492,000 in 2009. Is that money going to individuals' salaries as opposed to the administration of the scheme? This issue must be addressed because the service can be provided privately. The Minister of State's response is positive but we must follow up on any waste in the system.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I am not familiar with the particular case raised by the Senator but if she would like to forward the details to me, I will take it up with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

The Seanad adjourned at 7.50 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 16 November 2011.