Mr. Niall Redmond:

In terms of being part of the bigger picture, this is not just bricks and mortar but the community and agencies working together. The HSE, in partnership with the ALONE organisation, has conducted a pilot project for the past nine months in community healthcare organisation area 9 on support co-ordination. ALONE staff or volunteers deal with referrals from, for example, general practitioners, GPs, primary care teams and acute hospitals, and act as a point of contact for individuals who need to access various services. The pilot scheme has been very successful. The HSE has provided further funding to extend the scheme a bit further. Last December, the scheme won the HSE Excellence Award For Innovative Support Coordination for Older Persons and 300 projects were in the group. We must consider whether the scheme can be scaled up and brought to a national level. As many as 1,500 people availed of the project last year. The project gives an opportunity to co-ordinate the various services whether they are adaption grants, access to aids and appliances or whatever they might be and provides a focal, single point of contact for older people.