Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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806. To ask the Minister for Health his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding community care. [30743/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The overarching policy of the Government is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. Where this is not possible, the Health Service Executive supports access to quality long-term residential care where this is appropriate. It is my objective to ensure that available resources are deployed to achieve the best possible outcomes for older people.

The HSE’s National Service Plan for 2015 projects the expected provision of 10.3m hours help hours this year and that 13,800 people will be in receipt of a home care package.

The recently completed Review of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS) considers the way that residential care is currently balanced with care in the community, and endorses the Government's view that effective community supports can reduce the reliance of older people on residential nursing home care.

The NHSS could not be extended to cover home care in its existing form, as under the NHSS, participants contribute towards the costs of their care in accordance with their means, with a large proportion paying 80% of their income for this purpose. This would not work in the community as service users would still have to meet their day to day living expenses. It must also be recognised that while differences arise in the dependency levels of residents, the NHSS generally provides a fairly standard level of service and thus lends itself to a standardised support system, whereas home services can vary much more widely.

A Single Assessment Tool is already being developed which will allow for much more consistent and objective assessment of the needs of older people and as a result a better targeting of available resources to where they are most needed, and will deliver the best outcomes.