Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I welcome his report on the home help service and its importance to the wider community. I acknowledge that we are living in different times with changes in the demographic profile of the country and with people living longer. It is natural to study this subject to see how best to enhance the quality of life of the elderly population in the community.

Two weeks ago I chaired the annual general meeting of the Institute of Community Health Nurses, which represents public health nurses, which was held in Portlaoise. The main discussion centred on the necessity of a team approach. The Government is very committed to this project with an increase in funding from €12 million in 1997 to €120 million. This acknowledges and reflects the importance of the home help service to the community and the enhanced quality of life it provides to the elderly. In order to create the service and make it a substantial structure, the Minister of State has highlighted the importance of creating a proper training structure for home helps with proper conditions of employment. It is important there be no going back on this commitment.

The home help service is greatly in demand. It is a local service and home helps perform all the necessary duties associated with the care of the elderly. They can inform the elderly person of the local news and bring enjoyment to people in their latter years.

The service is not sufficiently publicised. The home help structure in some former health board areas seems to be flimsy, a fact acknowledged by the Minister of State when he referred to areas which need improvement. The service is a core area of health care and is acknowledged by the public health nurses as being a system of back-up support for their service. Elderly people do not always require nursing or medical care but they need a local person who knows them well and can judge when the elderly person requires a nurse or a doctor's care. This is a necessary network. If the system is implemented correctly now it will have a positive effect in the future by helping to keep people out of hospital or residential care and so freeing up such facilities for those who need it and also reducing the cost of residential care.

I commend the amendment as it is a subject which deserves discussion. It must be acknowledged that the service needs to be upgraded and provided with a structure. I suggest the service should be publicised more. I would not know how to go about asking for a home help if I needed one.

The Government has shown its commitment to the service and the money is being put into it. The Minister of State has said he will do more but I urge him to publicise the service and get value out of it. He is doing a lot of work and this should be acknowledged. There is no point talking in this House while nobody outside is aware of what has been said on the subject. I am with the Minister of State in this positive work and I will publicise it.

I am aware of the new skills which the Minister of State has decided are necessary and that he has benchmarked a structure. Many people would be happy to undertake this work given the conditions of employment which are proposed and given that it is work within their locality. They would be happy to provide a community service and be paid accordingly. This is a good report and I urge the Minister of State to work to improve it.