Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. Home supports provision is a key mechanism in enabling older people to remain in their own homes and communities for as long as possible and facilitating their discharge from acute hospitals. The HSE's national service plan for 2016 originally provided for a target of 10.4 million home help hours and 15,450 home care packages. However, the numbers of patients who had completed their acute treatment but required home care in order to be discharged were very high in the early part of the year. Without additional funding, this rate of hospital discharges could not have been sustained and the allocations for the rest of the year would have had to be reduced. The Government responded to this challenge by providing an additional €40 million for home care services in 2016. Further resources were provided through the winter initiative, in particular, additional home care packages and an increase in the number of approvals for transitional care beds.

This year's national service plan provides for a target of 10.57 million home help hours, 16,750home care packagesand190intensive home care packages for clients with complex needs. While the January to April data for home help hours are lower than for the corresponding period in 2016, of more significance is that the HSE target for this year is to provide approximately 200,000 home help hours in Dublin West, an increase of 20% on the number of hours delivered in 2016. A total of 509 people were in receipt of home care packages in Dublin West in April 2017, an increase of 8% on the expected target of 470. This represents an increase of 19% on the number in receipt of a package at the end of 2016.

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