Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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531. To ask the Minister for Health the timeframe for the implementation of a new home care scheme; and when it will be put on a statutory basis. [30274/18]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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In advancement of the Government’s commitment to promote community-care so that people can continue to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible, the Department of Health is currently engaged in the development of a new, stand-alone statutory scheme and system of regulation for home-care services.

The new home-care scheme will introduce clear rules in relation to the services for which individuals are eligible and in relation to service-allocation. It will therefore be an important step in ensuring that the system operates in a consistent and fair manner and will help to improve access to home-care services on an affordable and sustainable basis. The introduction of a system of regulation for home-care will help to ensure public confidence in the services provided. The new scheme will also be designed to support family/unpaid carers and will complement and integrate effectively with other health and social-care services such as long-term residential care (including the Nursing Homes Support Scheme), primary and community services and hospital services.

As an initial step in the development of the new scheme, the Department of Health commissioned the Health Research Board to undertake a review of the home-care systems in place in four European countries. The review, which was published last April, will help to ensure that Ireland’s new home-care scheme and system of regulation is informed by international experience. In addition a public consultation on the financing and regulation of home-care was undertaken last year. The purpose of this consultation, to which approximately 2,600 submissions were received, was to enable the Department to find out about the views of service-users, their families and healthcare workers on current and future home-care provision. A report on the findings of the consultation was published on 26 June and will inform the development of the new scheme. Further consultation with service-users will take place later this year, in addition to which the Department is actively engaging with the key NGOs and representative groups.

The development of a statutory scheme and system of regulation for home-care services is a complex undertaking. While the publication of the HRB review and of the report on the findings of the public consultation represent important milestones in the process of developing the new scheme, a significant amount of additional work remains to be carried out before final decisions are taken on the form of the home-care scheme and system of regulation. This is required if the reforms are to be successful, affordable and sustainable. The Department will continue to prioritise its work in developing the new scheme and every effort will be made to progress this matter as quickly as possible. However a realistic timeframe for the establishment of the new scheme on a statutory basis is 2–3 years.

While the new home-care scheme is under development, the Department of Health and Health Service Executive are continuing efforts to improve existing home-care services. In 2018 the HSE brought the funding for home help and Home Care Packages together into a single home support service for older people. As well as simplifying the application-process for home-care, the new service will be more responsive to service-users' changing needs. More broadly the HSE will continue to encourage local integration of services and to build appropriate care-pathways, in particular for people with complex needs. A consumer-directed approach to home-support provision will be introduced, giving service-users greater choice in relation to when they receive services and their selection of a service-provider. This enhancement of current service-provision is being supported by increased investment in home-care services. In line with the commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government (2016) to increase funding for home-care annually, funding for Older Persons’ Services rose from €763m in 2017 to €811m in 2018, including approximately €417m for the provision of home-support services.