Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. Our overall ambition in government is to use technology to the fullest extent possible to keep everybody well and provide them with support in their homes where they need healthcare support. Our ambition is also to utilise it fully in community and hospital care. Several really good programmes are in place, the chronic disease management, CDM, programme being one of the best examples. Technology is playing a role in supporting people with chronic diseases at home through the CDM programme.

On homecare specifically, we have deployed the interRAI system, in respect of which the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has had a leading role. Its purpose is to ensure, for the first time, consistency and transparency in the assessment of needs right across the country. Currently, there can be variations from place to place.

We are also running two programmes to trial the use of digital supportive technologies to enable increased service user independence and enhance homecare. This is a bit of a mouthful but essentially it means helping people to stay healthy at home. It includes increased independence and enhanced homecare for older people. It is particularly important during the development of the statutory homecare scheme, on which the Minister of State is leading, so people have the choice to ensure the service is designed and optimised for them by adopting enabling technologies.

In addition, as the Deputy will be aware, we are procuring an IT system for home support. It will facilitate and manage the application process from receipt of an application to a decision on service entitlement and make it easier for people to apply online. It is to make it increasingly easy for people to interact with the services.

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