Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 247: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if it is her policy to encourage the care of the elderly in the home as a first priority; the announcements she made in this regard as part of the Estimates for public expenditure 2006; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4250/06]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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The Tánaiste and I regard the support of older people to stay in their own homes and communities as a key policy priority and thereby moving away from the practice of placing people in residential care as a first option. This is the expressed wish of the majority of our older people.

Additional funding has been allocated for services for older people and palliative care amounting to €150 million in budget 2006 —€110 million for 2006 and €40 million more for 2007. Approximately two thirds of this money, or €109 million, of the full year costs has been allocated to community support for older people. There will be a well-funded and viable alternative to long-term residential care in the form of home care packages and additional home help hours. In regard to the packages, it is expected that an extra 2,000 will be available by the end of this year; this will be approximately triple the number of such supports that were provided last year.

This is the largest ever increase in funding for services for older people, reflecting this Government's commitment to older people and putting them at the centre of health policy in the future. The investment package is a major step in focusing new resources on home care first and foremost, while still supporting appropriate residential care, where an additional €20 million has been provided to the HSE for this year. Home care packages deliver a wide range of services and have been piloted successfully in several regions in recent years. They include various disciplines and will vary according to the care needs of the person so that, for example, there might be a greater emphasis in some packages on home care assistants while other packages may require a greater level of therapy and nursing.

Home helps are another essential part of supporting older people at home and thereby delaying or preventing admission to long stay residential care. There is a continuing demand for home helps because of the increased number of older people. An additional €33 million full year cost is now being allocated for this programme, €30 million of which will be for 2006, providing an additional 1.75 million home help hours.