Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 55: To ask the Minister for Health and Children to ensure that the budgets for community care are protected in order that elderly and disabled persons currently receiving home help or home care will not be adversely affected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34695/10]

Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Government policy is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. This is delivered through a range of community services such as Home-Help, Home Care Packages, Meals-on-Wheels, and Day/Respite care. Such supports have the added objectives of reducing inappropriate admissions by older people to acute hospital or long-term residential care.

The importance attached to these services is highlighted by the fact that over €200m additional funding has been provided in recent years for these services. The HSE has responsibility for the delivery of Home Care services, in line with its National Service Plan 2010. This commits the Executive to provide 11.98 million Home-Help hours nationally this year to over 54,000 people. The target for 2010 for Home-Help hours is unchanged over the 2009 figure. In addition to the mainstream Home-Help provision, the current Plan is designed to deliver Home Care Packages to around 9,600 people at any one time, or to some 13,000 clients over the course of the year, and to cater for the provision of around 21,300 Day/Respite Care places.

In the period 2006 to 2008, over €425m was provided to the HSE under the National Disability Strategy Multi Annual Investment Programme for the provision of additional specialist health and personal social services for people with a disability. In 2009, the HSE provided 3.2 million hours of personal assistant / home care services to people with a disability. In Budget 2010 additional funding of €19.5m was provided to the Executive to respond to demographic growth in demand for emergency residential placements, additional day places, and personal assistant/home support hours. The current HSE Service Plan commits the Executive to providing the same level of service as in 2009, in other words, 3.2 million hours, and an additional 140,000 hours of personal assistant / home care services for people with a disability.

Deliberations by the Government on the expenditure allocations for next year are likely to continue up until Budget time, and it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this stage, pending the outcome of those deliberations. The very difficult financial position facing the Exchequer will obviously require very careful management across all areas of expenditure. Notwithstanding this difficult financial environment, the Government is determined to do everything possible to protect the services referred to by the Deputy, to respond to priority demographic and other needs, and to support ongoing reform of the public heath services within the resources available for health.