Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The previous speaker mentioned a person by name who is not in a position to defend themselves in the House. I want that noted on the record. I think it is very unfair to name individuals.

I want to thank everyone. I echo the opening remarks of my colleague the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, by thanking Members for their contributions to this important motion on the funding of our health service.

There should be no doubt that investment in social care, mental health and older person services is a substantial priority for the Government. The budget for older persons has risen from €1.97 billion in 2020 to just over €2.6 billion next year. This represents the largest allocation ever for older person services, and an overall increase of one third since 2020. Every day, a wide range of core services continue to be provided for older people across the country, including home support, day care, community supports in partnership with voluntary groups, intermediate care, as well as long-stay residential care when remaining at home is no longer feasible. In budget 2024 I secured an increase of €35.5 million for the nursing home support scheme, or the fair deal as it is known, to support nursing homes in maintaining services. I also announced the establishment of a dedicated new €10 million fund to support private and voluntary nursing homes with HIQA regulations and compliance measures. The details are currently being worked on.

The provision of home support has received much media attention in the last week. Improving access to home support is a priority for the me and the Government. Since budget 2021 we have provided an additional €228 million in funding. In 2023, the overall home care budget is €723 million. The HSE national service plan target has risen from 17.9 million home support hours in 2019 to an expected 21.5 million hours in 2023. This is more than has ever been delivered before. This year, we are ahead of target in the number of home support hours provided, with an increase of 571,000 hours delivered up to the end of August in comparison to the same period last year. Our target is 21.5 million hours of home support delivered this year, which we are fully funded to do. Any talk of cuts to home support hours is simply untrue.

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