John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 69: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the number of home helps employed in County Sligo and north Leitrim for the years 2003 to 2006; the directive she has issued in relation to the privatisation of the Irish home help services: if she or her officials has had negotiations with a service (details supplied) regarding setting up operations here; the priority steps she has taken to provide proper resourcing to the homehelp service; if she will give a firm commitment that it will not be privatised as there are many hardworking home helps in this country who feel they are not being given a fair deal by the Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27294/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The number of home helps employed in County Sligo and north Leitrim for the years 2003 to 2006 relates to the management of human resources which is the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

As the Deputy will be aware, additional funding of €150m was allocated to Services for Older People/Palliative Care in the 2006 Budget. Of this, an extra €33m was allocated to the Home Help Service, €30m of which is provided for 2006 and will deliver 1.75m home help hours. €55m was also allocated to home care packages (€30m for 2006 and a further €25m for 2007), with an additional 2,000 packages to be delivered by the end of this year.

Home care, including the home help service, is delivered through the Health Service Executive in partnership with a range of providers including the Health Service Executive itself, voluntary groups and the private sector. This has long since been a policy in relation to home care. There are no plans to privatise the home help service or give priority to private companies over public or other home care providers, and no directive has been issued in this regard. An initial meeting took place between officials from the Department and the company concerned, regarding the provision of home help services, and this company was directed to liaise with the Health Service Executive.

The most important factor in delivering home care and home help is not who provides the service, but that an appropriate level of service is delivered in as flexible a manner as possible which is highly responsive to the real needs of the individual, and there is no reason why private providers should not work in partnership with the Health Service Executive to this end, as they have been doing in the past and continue to do.