Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 July 2017
838. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Health if the HSE has written to him or his officials regarding the lack of funding to meet the extra demand in health services particularly in care of the elderly and disability services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35562/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra846. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Health his views on the increased demands for home care packages; the way in which this will be addressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35571/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 838 and 846 together.
The Deputy will be aware that many more of our older people with complex care needs are now being maintained at home, leading to increased demand for additional levels of service, and for services outside of core hours of Monday to Friday. The HSE has not formally written to me or the Department yet in relation to resource requirements. However, following my appointment as Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People I have met and been briefed by officials from both the Department and the HSE on relevant issues including in particular the demand for the home care which continues to grow in parallel with the increasing numbers of older people. In the context of these discussions the HSE provided an outline of requirements. The HSE will be engaging further on these issues with my Department over the coming months in the context of the budget process.
The overall funding for Services for Older People is €765 million in 2017 with €367m for direct funding of Home Help and Home Care Packages. A further €9m supported by HSE and Atlantic Philanthropies will provide Intensive Home Care Packages (IHCPs) for people with more complex needs. The HSE’s National Service Plan for 2017 provides for a target of 10.57 million Home Help Hours to support about 49,000 people, 16,750 Home Care Packages and 190 Intensive Home Care Packages for clients with complex needs including 60 clients with dementia supported with co-funding from Atlantic Philanthropies under the Irish National Dementia Strategy. This represents a significant increase on home care in comparison to last year’s Service Plan, which had an original target of 10.4 million hours home help and 15,450 Home Care Packages.
Despite this significant level of service provision, the demand for Home Care continues to grow. It is important to note that the allocation of funding for home care across the system, though significant, is finite and services must therefore be delivered within the funding available. The level of activity and associated costs must be managed in a way that ensures that those with the greatest needs are supported and that the overall expenditure on home care services by the HSE does not exceed the available funding.
The Programme for Government commits to increasing funding for Home Care Packages and Home Help every year. The planning and management of future health expenditure will be considered as part of the annual estimates and budgetary process which seeks to balance available funding across all of the various service areas to achieve the best possible outcomes for the greatest number of service users and prioritise areas of greatest need.
Finally I would like to assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to promoting care in the community for older people so that they can continue to live in their own homes for as long as possible. On 6 July Minister Harris and I announced the opening of a public consultation on home care services. The purpose of this consultation is to allow all those who have views on this topic to have their say, including older people themselves, their families, and health care workers. The Department wants to find out what people think about current home care services and would also like to hear the public’s views on what the future scheme should look like. I strongly urge all those with an interest in home care services to make a submission to the consultation. The consultation is an important step to inform the development of a Statutory Scheme for homecare, which is being prioritised by my Department. The development of such a Scheme will improve the operation of the homecare system and access to services that people need in an affordable and sustainable way.
