Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to examine plans for a statutory home care scheme. Supporting people so they can remain living in their own home is a fundamental policy for Fianna Fáil. We have consistently increased budgets for the provision of care in the community through day care centres, meals on wheels and home care. We know that for most people home is the preferred location for care. The home support service is therefore an essential service for thousands of people across the country.

Today in Ireland, approximately 56,000 people will receive home care which enables them to live in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. Last year, 22.1 million hours of home care were delivered, providing vital wrap-around support to help older people to age well. In 2020 the overall funding available to the HSE for older people was €1.97 billion, in 2024 the overall funding available will exceed €2.6 billion.

The home support service is highly valued by service users and their families because it enables older people to live independently and with dignity in their own homes for longer. It also enables many older people to return home following acute hospital admission who otherwise would remain there or would be admitted to long-term residential care. Since budget 2021 the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has secured an additional €228 million in funding for the home care support service. I know from my own experience in Dún Laoghaire the wonderful work carried out by the home care support service. In particular I want to recognise the work carried out by service providers such as Shankill Day Care centre and Beaufort Day Care centre in Glasthule.

The meals-on-wheels volunteers and home care assistants are the backbone of the service and we could not manage without them. As a society, we will need to examine the strategic and policy implications of an ageing society and how we will deal with the challenges and opportunities it will bring. While it is wonderful to see people living longer and enjoying their well-deserved retirement, the State must support them.

The objective of the 2017 statutory home care scheme was to introduce regulation to the sector and ensure people have a right to enjoy consistent service levels and to live in their own home where appropriate. While there has been progress on home care, there have been setbacks to the full implementation of the scheme. In many respects the scale and scope of the scheme and the work and funding that would be necessary were underestimated by the last government in 2017. There is no doubt the challenges of Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis were further setbacks. I support the principles behind the statutory home care scheme but in order to deliver its objectives, a whole-of-government approach will be required to prioritise the necessary cultural change and allocate the funding required.

I welcome the Minister of State's statement today that it is a priority for her, but that there is more to do. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for her efforts in securing additional funding for the sector and for her engagement in prioritising the need to support older people.

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