Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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421. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware of the consequences that the Pobal senior alert proposal will have on volunteer groups; the rationale for dividing the country into ten regions, in the context of the tendering for the revised arrangements under the senior alert scheme; the reason an individual supplier is limited to delivering a service in three regions; the cost implications of this approach for the more isolated rural regions in respect of monitoring fees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16455/15]

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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My Department manages the Seniors Alert Scheme which encourages community support for vulnerable older people in our communities by providing grant assistance towards the purchase and installation of personal monitored alarms to enable older persons, of limited means, to continue to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. The scheme is administered by local community and voluntary groups with the support of my Department.

Following a review in 2010 of the Community Support for Older People (CSOP), the forerunner for the Seniors Alert Scheme, one of the recommendations was that a centralised procurement process would simplify the scheme. By decreasing the level of administration for groups, this would allow them to spend more time on the key aim of the scheme, which is enhanced interaction with older persons and would also achieve value for money through economies of scale. It is anticipated that the resource efficiencies gained through the procurement and centralised financial management of service suppliers will allow more people to benefit from the scheme and will allow for consideration of funding additional items such as smoke detectors and/or carbon monoxide alarms under the Scheme.   

My Department undertook to consider new approaches to the Seniors Alert Scheme in 2014 and arising from this, it was decided that the scheme be managed by Pobal, given that organisation’s significant experience delivering programmes on behalf of Government.

Pobal’s management and administrative services for the Scheme included an invitation to tender for the supply and installation of personal monitored alarms, which was publicly advertised on eTenders on 20 October 2014. The tender included a requirement for suppliers to set out their value added services. The tender process, which is being led by Pobal, is almost complete. Following on from this, a panel of regional suppliers will be contracted to provide the equipment within specific regional areas. The tender was broken down into ten regional lots to ensure that SMEs were not disadvantaged due to excessively large lot sizes.

A monitoring services panel was also advertised via eTenders on 6 November 2014.  This process will engage a panel of quality checked monitoring suppliers who will outline the costs they charge and the service they provide.  This information will be provided to the community groups and individuals to ensure they can make the best choice in relation to their monitoring services supplier.  The use of this panel is voluntary; monitoring costs are not grant-aided and have always been the responsibility of the beneficiary. The older person will continue to be responsible for choosing the monitoring supplier of their choice.   

The transfer of the operation of the scheme to Pobal is scheduled for completion by end July 2015; the strategic policy direction of the Scheme will remain my Department’s responsibility. In the meantime, community and voluntary groups wishing to draw down grant support under the Seniors Alert Scheme should continue to apply to my Department in the usual way.