Dr. Marita O'Brien:

From research we carried out with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and the Irish Association of Social Workers we know that in some areas the primary care group may have been allocated funding but it may not have social workers attached to the team. Some hospitals use the social work services funding for a discharge planner. There do not seem to be any structures. Each primary care group does not seem to be funded in the same way. They do not have to have particular professionals or staff or to relate the staff to the demographics of the area. There does not seem to be any link to the demographic of a community or area in how funding is applied.

The allocation of funding for home-care packages is not based on demographics and is not ring-fenced, whereas the nursing home support scheme funding is ring-fenced and, therefore, its budget is known. In the first three months of this year too many home-care packages were given out. How can I say too many home-care packages were given out when that was the demand and people were assessed as needing them? It meant that in some parts of Ireland, including Dublin and Galway, no home-care packages have been available for the past two months.