Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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A high-quality, consistent home-support service, focused on keeping people well in their homes and communities for as long as possible, is a key enabler to ensuring that people across a continuum of care get the right care, in the right place, at the right time.  In this regard, my Department is in the process of developing a statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home support.

As part of this, work is on-going to determine the optimal approach to the development of the scheme within the broader context of the Sláintecare reforms.  Work undertaken in 2019 focussed on the design of the scheme, the options for regulation, and a review of existing services.  In 2020, work is focussing on piloting a reformed model of service delivery for home support services, the development of the evidence base for the financing of home support services; and the development of a framework for the regulation of these services. 

While Sláintecare commits to the establishment of the scheme by the end of 2021, progress on the development of the scheme, including the planned testing of a pilot scheme in 2020, has been impacted by the ongoing work and diversion of resources as part of the response to COVID-19.  However, my Department remains committed to bringing forward this work as a priority, taking on  board the learning from the response to COVID-19, in order to support people to age well and continue to live independently in their homes for as long as possible.

The development of a statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home support is an ambitious programme of reform which will require costing, and this work is currently on-going.