Seven-day home help
Deputy Michael Collins said the programme for Government promise of seven-day home help was not being delivered in west Cork. Minister of State Jim Daly said a statutory scheme was being developed, funding was substantial, and consultation on the new scheme had finished.
To be honest, that is rubbish talk.
Comment on this
I refer to pages 85 and 86 of the programme for Government on making older years better years. During the talks on government two years ago many Rural Independent Group Deputies highlighted the difficulties with home help being delivered to our elderly, especially with home help not being available over weekends and bank holidays. The Government agreed in the programme for Government to allow seven-days-a-week home-help service where possible but two years later, I see little or no evidence of the seven-days-a-week home help available in west Cork even though workers on the ground are seeking extra hours. This weekend, many of the elderly, who in many cases live alone, will not see a home-help service from Friday until Tuesday. Promises in the programme for Government are meaningless in this situation. When will a seven-days-a-week home-help service be openly available?
Comment on this
On home help, as Deputy Michael Collins will be aware, a statutory scheme is being developed. Home help, as we acknowledge and have done so on many occasions, is ad hoc and sporadic around the country. It is a demand-led scheme and €408 million is being allocated by the Government this year to meet the needs of home help. There are 50,500 people availing of home help. However, it is not enough and we accept that and we want to do more. That is why the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and I launched a consultation to develop a statutory scheme. That consultation has now concluded. We will have a scheme underpinned by law, which will guarantee the right to home help but it will take two to three years to bring it about in full. We are moving down the road towards it. We cannot click our fingers and make it happen overnight. If the Ceann Comhairle remembers, it took up to nine years to bring about the fair deal scheme. We are trying to bring about a scheme similar to the fair deal scheme that will guarantee access to each and every person on a fair and level basis, irrespective of the geography and the other challenges involved. We do not want there to be a postal lottery involved in this.