Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone who contributed to this constructive debate. In my opening comments, I expressed hope that it would be constructive because that is what is needed. All our constituency offices are inundated with constituents who are trying to secure home supports for elderly relatives. I warmly welcome the Government's decision to support the motion. There was not one dissenting voice among all the Deputies who spoke. There was cross-party support and it is not often we see that. Some history might have been thrown in but I am only concerned about the present, the here and now, and the 6,287 people who are unable to avail of home supports.

I have some concerns. I listened with interest to the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly. Deputy Ó Caoláin stated that the cynic in him was a little surprised when he saw the reports this morning indicating that 550 extra home care packages were to be provided. I am not a cynical person, so when I saw the news this morning I welcomed it. It is very important. As part of budget 2019, €10 million has been made available to the HSE for home supports during the winter period, with a special focus on those aged over 75. We warmly welcome that.

The Department of Health immediately sanctioned €5 million to support an additional 300 home support packages. The other 250 packages will come in the months ahead. Unfortunately, we do not have time because the health service is overloaded. Every day, 300, 400 or 500 people are on trolleys. There are 610 people in the acute hospital system who cannot be released into community care or the care of their loved ones because they do not have home care supports. This year alone, 135,000 bed days will be lost in the system because of late discharges.

I welcome that there will be 550 additional packages in the months ahead but the measure is too bland. We really need definition in this and, as people always say, the devil is in the detail. There is not enough detail there. We really must deal with the issues.

Deputy Harty made some very good points on supporting housing options, and we must consider different housing options. There is a model of support in the south east that has low intensity community care homes. For example, in St. Carthage's in Lismore there is a home where 42 people live. They have meals provided, laundry sorted and companionship. They get their medication every day. Nevertheless, they still live independently in a home care setting. That is something we will have to consider as this model could be rolled out throughout the country. It works extremely well for bachelors or older people who may not have family any more but who do not want to live in rural isolation.

I know the following does not come under the remit of the Minister of State, Deputy Daly, but rather the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. He mentioned it. The timely processing of carer's allowance applications is a major issue and it now takes up to 20 weeks to have an application processed. It is really causing a blockage. If there is an appeal, a person could be waiting for another 20 weeks. It is another reason for the system being blocked.

We must really see movement on the rolling out of the single assessment tool for the assessment of care needs. It has been too slow, and although it has been piloted in some constituencies, it has not been rolled out everywhere. The figures have 6,287 people waiting for home care supports, with 674 waiting in Galway but nobody waiting in Kilkenny. The same statistics must apply to each community as this would make a major difference.

Keeping people in their homes for as long as possible delivers better results, as everybody here acknowledged. Everybody supported the motion. Older people who get to live in their homes, surrounded by friends, families and neighbours, do better than those who live in nursing homes. I will hold the Minister to account on the 550 home care packages promised today. If those packages could be made available immediately, it would make some difference to the 610 people in the acute hospital setting who cannot be released into their communities and to their families. If they were released from the acute setting, we might not have as many people on trolleys tomorrow, next week or next month. I thank everybody for their constructive support today and I commend the motion to the House.

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