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

There is no proposal by the Department or the HSE to means-test care.

Significant resources are currently being invested in home care services. In 2017, the HSE will spend approximately €370 million on home care, with targets for the delivery of just over 10.5 million home help hours, almost 17,000 home care packages and 190 intensive home care packages co-funded by Atlantic Philanthropies for clients with complex needs. The 2017 funding represents an increase of €27 million over that made available in 2016.

However, the Government is aware that those resources, while significant, are insufficient to meet the growing demand for home care and that that must urgently be addressed. Accordingly, an additional €41 million was made available for older people’s services in budget 2018. That allocation comprises €9 million once-off funding in 2017 and €32 million next year, a significant proportion of which will be allocated to home care services. Working within available resources, the HSE has sought to maintain and, where possible, expand the range and volume of services available to support people to remain in their own homes. Private and voluntary sector providers play an important role in that service delivery, complementing the work of staff employed directly by the HSE to provide a flexible and responsive service.

In addition, although home care is among the health and social care services for which there is currently no statutory regulation, the HSE is progressing a range of measures to improve home care provision overall, to standardise services nationally and to promote quality and safety. Those measures include a national procurement framework for home care services which provides a mechanism for quality assurance. It came into effect in 2012 and was again put out to tender in 2016. Within the framework, private and voluntary sector providers are also monitored through two-year service level agreements with the HSE. More broadly, home care service provision is monitored by the HSE on an ongoing basis relative both to the overall availability of resources and to individual clients' care needs.

Home care service provision has developed over the years with a significant local focus and there is more variation than the Government wish there to be in the delivery of services across the country and at different times of the year. To help address that regional disparity, the HSE is in the process of implementing a standardised, comprehensive care needs assessment procedure across the country which will ensure consistency in the eligibility criteria applied for home care and long-term residential care. Following the completion of a pilot of that single assessment tool in May, national level implementation is now in progress.

While the existing home care service is delivering crucial support to many people across the country, the Government recognises that it needs to be improved to better meet the changing needs of our citizens. In particular, I am very conscious that the current system relies heavily on family carers. That was movingly highlighted by the "Prime Time" programme last week. Carers play a crucial role in helping older people to continue to live in their own homes and they make a profound difference to the health, well-being and quality of life of those for whom they care. Carers also make an important and often unacknowledged contribution to the economy. That is reflected in the 2016 census results published last month, which indicated that approximately 195,000 carers are providing a minimum of 6.6 million hours of care per week.

It is Government policy to recognise, respect and value the role of carers as key care partners. The national carers strategy was launched in 2012 to set the strategic direction for future policies, services and supports provided to carers by Departments and agencies. This is a whole-of-Government approach underpinning the reality that the needs of carers are many and must be met by many Departments. Carers require supports to help them to maintain their own health and well-being and to empower them to participate, where possible, in economic and social life.

The Government's commitment to supporting carers was demonstrated earlier today when I, along with the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy McGrath, announced Government approval for additional funding to enable all carers in receipt of carer's allowance to qualify for a GP visit card.

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