David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1154. To ask the Minister for Health when he plans to introduce a statutory scheme to support persons to live in their own homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21469/20]

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 Sláintecarereforms. Work undertaken in 2019 focussed on the design of the scheme, the options for regulation, and a review of existing services. In 2020 it had been intended to focus 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 Sláintecarecommits 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.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1155. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated cost of introducing and delivering a statutory scheme to support persons to live in their own homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21470/20]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The development of a statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home-support services is a key objective of the Government, which the Department of Health is currently progressing. This encompasses work to determine the optimal model for, and approach to the development of, the statutory scheme within the broader context of the Sláintecarereforms.

The development of the new statutory scheme is a complex process which will require costing, and this work is currently on-going.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1156. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated cost of a 10%, 20% and 25% increase in homecare hours; and the additional number of hours this would provide respectively in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21471/20]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1157. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated cost of increasing the eHealth budget by 10%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21472/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE ICT Capital budget is €95 million for 2020 up from €85m in 2019. Investment objectives are in line with Project Ireland 2040and support eHealth activities agreed in the Programme for Government and support the cross-party reform priorities of Sláintecare as well as a continuing body of work on national ICT maintenance and upgrades A 10% increase in the 2020 HSE ICT capital funding of €95 million represents an additional investment of €9.5 million. Proposed funding for 2021 is currently €120m which represents a planned increased funding provision of €25m.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1158. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to deliver a carers guarantee of services; the estimated cost of such a plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21473/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Programme for Government commits to delivering a ‘Carers Guarantee’ that will provide a core basket of services to carers across the country, regardless of where they live. This commitment is consistent with the National Carers' Strategy, which seeks to support family carers to care with confidence through the provision of adequate information, training, services and supports.

As reflected by the National Carers' Strategy, the needs of family carers encompass a wide range of areas and involve a number of Government departments. In relation to my own role as Minister for Health, I am committed to listening to family carers and their representative organisations and working with my Government colleagues to ensure that we are providing the most appropriate supports to help sustain carers in their caring role. My colleague Mary Butler, T.D, the Minister with responsibility for Mental Health and Older People at the Department of Health will hold a roundtable with Family Carers on 15 September to hear about their experience as carers and how we can best support them in their caring role, in particular, given the challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

It should be noted that under the existing National Carers' Strategy, a range of measures have been introduced or extended by my Department to support family carers in recent years. Since September 2018, free GP visit cards have been extended to persons in receipt of the Carer’s Allowance. The Programme for Government commits to further extending this service to recipients of the Carer's Support Grant. In addition, the 2020 National Service Plan provides for an additional 1 million home support hours in 2020, while up to 1,000 new community frontline staff will be recruited to enhance community care under Sláintecare.

The Programme for Government commits to reviewing and updating the National Carers' Strategy and it is in this context that the carers' guarantee commitment will be addressed. The HSE have also committed in the 2020 National Service Plan to pilot the Carer's Needs Assessment Module of the InterRAI needs assessment tool in the context of testing of the Statutory Homecare Scheme. This will help identify the needs of family carers and how best to respond to them.