Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 65: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the steps that will be taken to ensure the quality of care will be properly monitored and audited in the new private sector venture for elderly people in their homes, known as comfort keepers; the criteria whereby persons will be entitled to a level of support from home care packages that part fund this scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19275/06]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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The draft General Scheme and Heads of the Health Bill 2006 provide for the establishment of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) incorporating the Office of the Chief Inspector of Social Services on a statutory basis.

It is intended that under the provisions of the Bill, HIQA will set standards on safety and quality of services provided by or on behalf of the HSE. It will monitor and advise the Minister and the HSE on the level of compliance with those standards. It will also have the power to investigate, at the request of the Minister or the HSE, the safety, quality and standards of any service and make any recommendations it deems necessary.

The Health Service Executive has advised that the Dublin Mid-Leinster Area is currently finalising documentation prior to inviting tenders from private and voluntary sector organisations for inclusion on a panel of preferred providers to provide high quality home support and personal care services for older people. At three month and six month intervals, the Health Services Executive will review contractors performance using the criteria included for awarding contracts, and determine whether the contractor should remain on the panel of 'preferred providers' or be removed.

This tender will ensure that home care services contracted in by the Health Services Executive will reach the highest standards, and, by regular review and audit in line with the tender provisions, these standards will be carefully monitored. Persons who make private arrangements with contractors included in the list of preferred providers can be assured that the organisations they deal with have reached the standards outlined above and that evidence of maintaining those standards will be regularly monitored.

Home Care Packages consist of a mixture of grants, contracted care services, therapeutic input, equipment and other such community services as determined by a needs assessment to facilitate an older person to remain living in their own home. Home Care Packages are targeted at those people who have maximised their usage of existing core community services.