Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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851. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons awaiting approval for home care supports; the approximate delay in processing an application; the maximum hours that can be allocated to a person; the percentage deducted from a persons home under the fair deal system; and his plans to allow care packages be transferred from a nursing home setting to the family home. [37097/17]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I have asked the HSE to reply to you directly with regard to'the number of persons awaiting approval for home care supports; the approximate delay in processing an application; the maximum hours that can be allocated to a person'.

In the context of home care it is important to be clear that persons in receipt of home care do not contribute to the cost of their package, so there is no percentage deducted from assets including their home.

The Nursing Homes Support Scheme, commonly referred to as A Fair Deal,is a system of financial support for those in need of long-term nursing home care. In this Scheme, participants contribute to the cost of their care according to their income and assets while the State pays the balance of the cost. The Scheme aims to ensure that long-term nursing home care is accessible and affordable for everyone and that people are cared for in the most appropriate settings. A care needs assessment is carried out to determine if a person requires long term care, followed by a financial assessment to determine how much a person will contribute to their cost of care.

Participants in the Scheme contribute up to 80% of their assessable income and a maximum of 7.5% per annum of the value of assets held. In the case of a couple, the applicant’s means are assessed as 50% of the couple’s combined income and assets. The first €36,000 of an individual’s assets, or €72,000 in the case of a couple, is not counted at all in the financial assessment. Importantly, the capital value of an individual’s principal private residence is only included in the financial assessment for the first three years of their time in care.

Again it is important to emphasise that Fair Deal is a financial support scheme designed to support those in need of nursing home care only.

There have been calls to extend the Nursing Homes Support Scheme to cover home care services, however, the Government is committed to establishing a new separate statutory home care scheme along with a system of regulation for home care services.

An important step in this process is a public consultation on home care services which I, along with Minister Harris launched on 6 July. The purpose of this consultation is to allow all those who have views on this topic to have their say, including home care users, their families, and healthcare workers. It will also allow us to find out what people think about current home care services as well as the public’s views on what the future scheme should look like. The consultation paper is available online at and I would encourage all those with an interest in home care services to make a submission to the consultation before the closing date of 2 October 2017.

A report of the findings of this consultation process will be published and the findings will be used by the Department in the development of the new home care scheme.