Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I have two questions, both of which are about integration. I want to go back to ICPOP, which is a very worthwhile undertaking and a very good programme. I want to do a deep dive on it if that is okay. I have been reading research papers around the development of ICPOP but I do not expect the witnesses to have read them before coming to today's meeting. One issue that came up in some of that work is the challenges being encountered in ICPOP. I will speak about the funding of ICPOP. One of the challenges raised was fragmented funding structures. One issue that we tend to talk about, whether in this committee, the Joint Committee on Health or the Committee on Budgetary Oversight, is multi-annual funding and the possibility of moving towards a multi-annual funding model. The context is that I know the Department of Finance does not like multi-annual funding. Is there a challenge around fragmented funding structures when dealing with a number of disciplines, from occupational therapy and psychiatry to everything else, in terms of making sure pathways towards an integrated programme are provided? Are high-level discussions taking place on the possibility of having multi-annual funding, even if it is not a full multi-annual commitment but perhaps a framework, rule or version of it that is set out for programmes, almost like indexation? We talk about that a great deal as well, and we are not quite there yet with social welfare either. What would be the rule if we were to keep this programme going for many years into the future? That is one area I want to talk about. I would also like to understand what the staffing shortfall on those programmes is at the moment given that we have been discussing recruitment quite a lot at this morning.

The second area also relates to integration. We have talked a lot about access to home care. I wonder about the integration across other Departments. We talk about teams deciding what an individual's care needs might be but I have come across constituents who have an offer of housing or a place, for example, but cannot get home care in place in time. What mechanisms do those care teams use to reach out to local government, the approved housing bodies, AHBs, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to ensure that decision-making model is in place?

We have been talking about carers and what we can do to support them and I note that carer's mileage was mentioned, which is welcome. Although everybody should walk and cycle, the reality is that people need to drive around to get to their care appointments. A big issue in Dublin and one I have been following up is that we really need a carer's pass for people's cars. Many older people have family who take their passes. People can get a pass for the road they live on and a member of the family, such as a daughter, may want the pass. However, the carer may need a pass to visit five different houses per day. I have been in contact with Dublin City Council many times on this. It would be very practical and would help carers if they could have a general pass that would allow them to park while visiting people. I ask for answers to my two questions.