Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 July 2018
459. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there are 6,000 persons waiting for home help and home care services; and his plans to ensure that funding is released immediately to address this problem [32034/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraHome support services were a particular focus in Budget 2018, with an additional €18.25m allocated. The total budget for home support services is now €408m. The HSE has operational responsibility for planning, managing and delivering home and other community-based services for older people. Services are provided on the basis of assessed healthcare need. The HSE 2018 National Service Plan provides for over 17 million home support hours to be delivered to 50,500 people at any time. A further 156,000 hours, relating to adverse weather funding, will be provided this year. Intensive Home Care Packages for people with more complex needs are being provided to approximately 235 people at any time, delivering approximately 360,000 hours in the full year.
The HSE, working within its available resources, has sought to maintain and where possible to expand the range and volume of services available to support people to remain in their own homes, to prevent early admission to long-term residential care and to support people to return home following an acute hospital admission.
Despite this significant level of service provision, the demand for home support continues to grow. There is considerable demand for home support services over and above existing service levels. The Programme for Partnership Government includes commitments to increase funding for home support services and an additional funding of €112 million has been provided for home support services over the past three years.
