Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
1497. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health the position regarding funding care for older persons; his plans to provide the service of the statutory entitlement to care for those who may qualify; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33180/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraHome support services received particular priority in Budget 2018, with an additional €18.25m allocated bringing the total home support allocation for 2018 to almost €417 million which includes funding for intensive home care packages. 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 health-care 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 and 235 Intensive Home Care Packages for people with more complex needs delivering approximately 360,000 hours in the full year. A further 156,000 hours, relating to adverse weather funding, will be provided this year.
The Department of Health is currently engaged in a detailed process to develop plans for a new statutory scheme and system of regulation for homecare services. The statutory scheme will introduce clear rules in relation to what services individuals are eligible for and how decisions are made on allocating services. The new scheme will help to improve access to the home care services that people need. The system of regulation for home care will help to ensure that the public can be confident that the services provided are of a high standard.
The development of a new national statutory scheme for home care is a complex process. As an initial consultative step in the development of the new scheme, a public consultation on the financing and regulation of home care, to which approximately 2,600 submissions were received, was undertaken last year. A report on the findings of the consultation was published on 26th June and will inform the development of the new scheme. Further consultation with service users will take place later this year. In 2017, the Department of Health also commissioned a review of the home care systems in place in four European countries to ensure that Ireland’s new home care scheme and system of regulation is informed by international experience.
While the publication of the HRB review and of the report on the findings of the public consultation represent important milestones in the process of developing the new scheme, a significant amount of additional work remains to be carried out before final decisions are taken on the form of the home care scheme and system of regulation. This is required if the reforms are to be successful, affordable and sustainable. The Department will continue to prioritise its work in developing the new scheme and every effort will be made to progress this matter as quickly as possible. However a realistic timeframe for the establishment of the new scheme on a statutory basis is 2–3 years. In the meantime, the Department and HSE will also continue to prioritise improvements in the existing home care services.
