Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. I thank Deputy Smith for raising this question as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the House the current position with regard to services for older people in the Lower Ormond area.

This Government has made services for older people a priority by significantly increasing resources made available in recent years. Additional funding for services for older people, amounting to €150 million, was allocated in the 2006 budget. This is the largest ever increase in funding for services for older people. Reflecting the new emphasis on home and day care, almost three quarters of that sum, €109 million of the full year costs, is committed to community care supports.

In the context of dealing with the issue of the 22-bed unit and day care centre in Borrisokane, the Health Service Executive has advised that the provision of services for older persons in north Tipperary must be viewed not only in the context of the provision of extended care beds but also the increasing attention to and resourcing of community-based services to support older people with the view of maintaining them in their own homes and communities for as long as possible, thereby reducing the dependence on extended care beds. Consistent with this type of provision, there has been an emphasis in north Tipperary in the past decade on enhancing both the quantity and quality of day centre provision and much has been achieved to date. There are 30 places in Nenagh, 25 in Templemore, 25 in Newport, 25 in Roscrea and 30 in Thurles.

With specific reference to residential services for older persons, the particular emphasis in recent years has been, in the first instance, to improve the infrastructure and the quality and type of service in existing facilities. As a result of this emphasis, significant refurbishment has taken place at the Dean Maxwell community nursing unit in Roscrea and a completely new hospital has been built to replace the Hospital of the Assumption in Thurles. Both these projects have been completed and the new hospital in Thurles has been fully occupied since April 2006. In Nenagh, there has been investment in 2005 and 2006 to improve the existing facility at St. Conlon's community nursing unit.

There is an identified need in the Borrisokane area in respect of day centre provision and also some bed capacity, and that will now form the basis of consideration by the Health Service Executive. In the interim, it is noted that the overall support for older persons in the north Tipperary area has been significantly enhanced, not only by the aforementioned developments but also through the provision of increased funding for the home help service and new funding to provide home care packages for older persons in the area. Such home care packages allow for a co-ordinated response by a number of areas of service provision, which come together to support older people living at home, and the people in the Borrisokane area, Nenagh sector, can avail of these services. It is the intention of the HSE that the significant developments in total service provision for older persons in north Tipperary in recent years will continue.

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