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

I assure the Deputy story-telling was never my forte and I do not intend to start now.

Since being appointed as Minister of State with responsibility for older people, I have made improved access to home support services a key priority. Progress in this area is reflected in the additional funding made available for winter 2017, the increased funding and level of activity planned for 2018 and in the work being progressed on the development of a statutory home care scheme.

Home support services are a particular area of focus in budget 2018, with an additional €18.25 million allocated. The additional resources bring the budget for the direct provision of home support services to €408 million delivering over 17 million home support hours to about 50,500 people. This compares with the estimated 16.34 million hours delivered to 50,000 people last year. In addition, 235 intensive home care packages will provide 360,000 home support hours for people with complex needs.

There is a high level of demand for home support services in community healthcare organisation 9, which includes Dublin north city and county area and over €55 million was spent on home support in the community healthcare organisation, CHO, last year. Waiting lists for services are managed based on the assessed need and within available resources. Applications are assessed by the HSE and clients are provided with a service having regard to their assessed needs. Cases of individuals with palliative care needs and people discharged from acute hospital settings, who are in a position to return home with home support, are prioritised. The provision of services for the area is delivered primarily by private providers who were selected through the HSE tender process and who demonstrate the capacity to meet HSE requirements. I understand that from time to time, providers are unable to meet the service levels required by the HSE due to staff recruitment difficulties. Therefore, while there is a waiting list for home supports in the area, additional resources have been made available this year.

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