Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 12: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the commitment to the community supports for older people scheme in 2010; his views on whether older persons are not being adequately supported to live independently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8287/10]

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 45: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will make a statement on the implementation to date of those areas of the revised programme for Government, for which his Department has responsibility. [8397/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 45 together.

My Department has funded and operated the Scheme of Community Support for Older People since mid 2002. Grant aid provided under this Scheme allows for the installation of socially monitored personal alert systems and other items of home security and has supported over 100,000 older people in recent years. The Deputy will recall that this Scheme was reintroduced last October after being suspended for a period while my Department carried out a review of its operation. That Review is now complete and I hope to be in a position to publish the report before the end of this month, once I have received the input of other relevant Departments and organisations working with older people.

My Department is also at an advanced stage in finalising arrangements for the implementation of a number of innovations to the scheme to address matters raised in the review. The revised scheme will seek to: · streamline its operation and make it easier for community groups to access grant support; and · broaden coverage to ensure that older people who are unable to provide this equipment from their own resources have access to grant aid.

Even with the suspension of the Scheme in 2009, 432 community groups received total funds of over €2.1m in 2009 with 6,523 older persons being provided with security equipment. The vast majority of these received grant support for the installation of socially monitored alert systems. I have made arrangements to keep the existing Scheme open and my Department is accepting applications for grant support. The arrangement will continue until such time as revised arrangements are in place. Information on the grants paid is updated monthly on my Department's website at www.pobail.ie.

On a broader front, Government policy is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. To underpin this commitment, the Government has created the Office for Older People to support the Minster for Older People and Health Promotion to bring a more coordinated approach to issues relating to older people across the range of Government Departments and Agencies. In particular the Minister is developing a new National Positive Ageing Strategy and my Department is contributing to that work as well.

Responsibility for ensuring that older people can live independently and securely in their own homes and the delivery of services needed to ensure this is spread across a number of Departments and State agencies. An Garda Síochána and the Health Services Executive, as well as the Department of Social and Family affairs and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. With respect to my own Department, our focus is on assisting older people through ensuring community organisations and volunteering is supported to address gaps in service delivery where this is best done by local responses, and to ensure that older people are included in local activities and community life.