Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 65: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if the home help service has been affected by the Health Service Executive embargo on recruitment and overtime; if flexibility will be used locally in situations where extra home help hours can make the difference between a patient being able to go home from hospital or having to stay in an acute bed; the person who makes such decisions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29979/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The aim of the home help service is to enable older people and other dependent persons, who would otherwise need to be looked after in residential care, to live at home. The HSE acknowledges the importance of home helps as part of the community services team in supporting older people and other dependent persons to remain in their own homes for as long as possible.

The home help national budget allocation has increased from €156m in 2005 to €207m in 2007, representing an increase of €51m since 2005 (33% increase). Due to the expansion of the service over recent years, the HSE now has a considerable workforce available to deliver the service. Currently, there are in excess of 17,000 predominantly part time home helps employed nationally in the delivery of the service to over 53,000 clients.

The level of home help required by any existing or new client is informed by an assessment of need which is carried out by HSE professional staff. This is monitored and reviewed on a regular basis to ensure the assessed needs of clients continue to be met. This would include any requirement to provide additional home help hours if needed. Indeed, data from the HSE indicates that the total number of hours of home help services provided in September was above the average for the previous eight months.

Due to the nature of the service, there is considerable fluctuation in the level of assistance required by clients. In practice, this means that there is considerable flexibility and capacity in the HSE home help service to ensure that new clients requiring a service can be accommodated by the existing workforce. Therefore, the current pause in recruitment is manageable in the context of the delivery of the home help service.