Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The seniors alert scheme aims to encourage community support for vulnerable older people in our communities by providing grant assistance towards the purchase and installation of personal monitored alarms to enable older persons of limited means to continue to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. The scheme is administered by local community and voluntary groups, community alert, active retirement groups and so on, and it is open to people aged 65 years and over, living alone or living with another eligible person and who have a genuine need for assistance. Any community-based, voluntary, not-for-profit organisation which has a track record of working with or providing services to older people within its community can apply to be registered with my Department and to draw down grant support. The maximum grant per beneficiary for the equipment is €250 for monitored personal alarms with pendant, and €50 for an additional pendant or re-installation. Annual monitoring costs are borne by the beneficiaries.

From 2004 to date, 80,000 people have benefited from the scheme at a cost of €25.4 million. All of the grant approved personal monitored alarms up to now are connected to a landline. The Department is examining the possibility of providing grants for systems using mobile technology. It would be a matter for a community group to assure itself that a mobile technology based system provided full coverage in its area.

Preliminary inquiries indicate that the cost of monitoring a mobile solution is lower than the overall cost of monitoring a landline system when the landline rental is factored in. The mobile device costs around €160 per year to monitor while the cost of the landline solution can be around €280 per year when line rental costs are included. It should be noted that the mobile device is not normally supplied for use as a mobile telephone because additional costs are involved with such use, even though a limited number of telephone numbers can be programmed into the device for outgoing calls.

I have some good news for Deputies Coffey and Charles Flanagan in that I have been able to maintain the €2.35 million allocation for the 2014 senior alert scheme. That level of funding is sufficient to meet current demand levels for this important scheme. It would not, however, provide for grants to individuals wishing to replace existing alarms with the mobile version where a landline is being discontinued. This is a matter my Department is considering and, if feasible and there is a requirement for additional resources, I will take the matter up with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, in due course.

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