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

I thank both Deputies for focusing our attention on this important issue. I agree with both in that I would like to see increased investment. The Government has increased the investment in home help budget on budget. I am very hopeful that we will do it again this year.

It is important to note, however, that there is a dual challenge; it is not just about funding. If we had all the money in the world in the morning, we would need to get the people to provide service. In many areas, including mine, west Cork, the biggest challenge is not the financial one but getting people to deliver the service. As the Deputies will be aware, with a view to dealing with this I recently concluded a consultation with the public to hear its views on setting up a fair deal-type scheme, underpinned by statute, that would guarantee the delivery of home help hours and the appropriate training, and require a requisite number of staff to provide the service. That will take two to three years to bring about, bearing in mind that the fair deal scheme itself took seven to eight years to introduce. We are working and making a lot of progress towards that. In the meantime, however, I hope we will see an increase in this year’s budget, but it will not solve all the ills in the area of home help.

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