John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 77: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will introduce legislation to regulate and inspect home care services; the estimated cost of regulating home care services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25836/10]

Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The priorities in relation to services for older people in recent times have been the introduction of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme and the bringing into force of new regulatory standards for the long-term residential care sector. Allied to these significant initiatives for the residential sector, various aspects of community based services have also been progressed by the Department and the HSE. This includes an expansion of the Home Care Package Initiative nationally this year through an additional €10 million given in the last Budget, and the publication in December last of an independent Evaluation of Home Care Packages commissioned by the Department. This Evaluation was undertaken by PA Consulting Group. With reference to the possible regulation of home care services, the July 2008 Report of the Commission on Patient Safety and Quality Assurance recommended, among other things, the extension of any licensing systems in health care to the primary, community and continuing care service.

More recently, in July 2009, the Law Reform Commission (LRC) published a consultation paper entitled Legal Aspects of Carers. This considers the legal issues surrounding home care and makes a number of provisional recommendations in the area of standards and regulations generally, including vetting, training and supervision. It also provisionally recommends giving a function to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) in relation to professional home care. Any such changes would require primary legislation and detailed stakeholder consultations.

The Department accepts the need for a more standardised approach to the regulation of home care generally, whether by public or private providers. This year the HSE intends to:

finalise standardised access and operational guidelines for delivery of Home Care Packages;

adopt a voluntary code of Quality Guidelines for Home Care Support Services for Older People;

progress a Procurement Framework for home care services; and

introduce Procedural Guidelines for the Home Help service to standardise access to and allocation of Home Help hours.

The Department is also considering at present possible ways to effect the recommendations of the LRC in the context of any changes to legislation, including regulation and inspection, in the area of home care for older persons generally.