Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is a priority for me. There is a major flaw in the system, in that significant amounts of money are being used to keep people in hospital and acute units when we know that the financial benefits to the HSE and the Department in keeping them at home are considerable. There are also the physical benefits. When people are surrounded by their families and involved in their communities, naturally they get better and live longer and happier lives. As the Deputy rightly put it, trying to flip the manner in which funding is directed is a mammoth task. Unfortunately, one cannot just whip money from acute or hospital services. One must play a steady game by increasing funding in one direction while gradually decreasing it in another when it is no longer needed. That is when we will start to see a change. The five to ten-year plan for health is the way forward. We must invest over a long period. In the meantime, the priority is to continue increasing the finances for home help services, home care and intensive care packages. I am working on this issue with the advocacy and support groups, carers and hospitals. I will also work on it with the Deputy and ask for his and the support of every Deputy, as this is an important issue. The number of people aged 65 years and over will double in the coming years, while the number aged 80 years and over will quadruple. We will face a major problem if we do not address the issue now.

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