Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to take part in this debate on the future of healthcare for longer and healthier lives. I will touch on two topics, one of which, the statutory home care scheme, came up in the debate. I will give Members an update on that and then I want to speak about right-sizing, which falls under my brief as positive ageing, and housing options for people to age positively.

The programme for Government has committed to designing a statutory home care scheme to allow people stay in their own homes for as long as possible. Achieving this commitment will require focused efforts across several different elements all working towards developing a statutory framework. The first element being legislated for relates to licensing and registration of home care support providers. The general scheme of the health (amendment)(licensing of professional home support providers) Bill seeks to establish a licensing framework for a professional home support service. This was approved by the Government on 14 May last year. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health published its pre-legislative scrutiny report in October of last year. My officials are reviewing the recommendations of the committee's report. The general scheme has now been referred to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for final drafting with a view to presenting the Bill to Cabinet as soon as possible. This is something I am actively working on. I want to get this to Cabinet as quickly as possible. It is the first element to it. The Bill would provide for regulation of the sector by HIQA. Final amendments have been made to draft quality standards for home support providers. Following a public consultation engagement with stakeholders groups and partners working closely with HIQA, the prepared draft quality standards went out for public consultation. We are actively working on that with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and are looking to bring the Bill to Cabinet as quickly as possible.

The other issue that came up with a number of Members is that of right-sizing for older people. I am a Minister of State in two Departments, health and housing. My remit is to look at housing options for older people, which includes right-sizing. I am actively working on this with the officials in the Department of housing at the moment and I hope to bring it forward. In one sense it is about older people and their social and health aspects and about the housing aspects. That model will cover all aspects of life. I am delighted to contribute to this debate and I look forward to working with all Members into the future.

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