I again thank Senator Kennelly for raising this important matter. I will bring the specific concerns he raised in respect of the schoolchildren in Lixnaw and Abbeydorney. The Senator is familiar with the area and genuinely concerned about the matter. The Bus Éireann family portal is accepting payments or medical card details until 6 June. It is important that parents ensure they submit their payments or medical card details. After this deadline of 6 June, applications will be deemed late and a late submission of pa…

I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising this important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien. I wish to clarify that the Minister has responsibility for policy and overall funding relating to public transport but neither he nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority, NTA. The NTA …

The Government recognises that transport connectivity is important for people who live and work in Ireland, including Kildare, and is key to bringing life back into our villages, towns and urban centres. To deal with the specific point the Senator raised, the proposed route 888 linking Allenwood to Athy is expected to launch next month. Discussions between the NTA and Local Link Kildare South Dublin on a route connecting Suncroft to Kildare-Newbridge are now at an advanced stage and the NTA expects to finalise thos…

I welcome the opportunity to discuss fair and sustainable funding for carers, home support and the nursing homes support scheme. The Minister for Health is not opposing the motion. I echo the motion in acknowledging the indispensable contributions of carers and front-line healthcare workers. We all know that they do phenomenal work. Their valuable work supports older people, people with disabilities and individuals with high care needs to live independently in their homes and communities. This Government is committ…

The Deputy referred to the HIQA report. Obviously, HIQA operates independently. It was felt the current location on the campus was impacting the residents of the nursing home, that is, the community nursing unit itself, so an agreement was reached that it would look for an alternative permanent location. In the interim it has temporarily located on another area in the campus where there is separate access. The older persons services in primary care is working with St. Joseph’s Longford to look at a permanent locati…

I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this important matter. The Programme for Government - Securing Ireland’s Future includes several commitments to deliver practical housing for positive ageing. These commitments build upon the policy objectives in Housing for All that commit to increasing the housing options available to older people to facilitate ageing in place with dignity and independence. The commitments in the programme for Government include: mandating local authorities to find suitable sites for housing spec…

I thank Deputy Cahill. He has covered many of the matters I wish to cover in the context of housing choice for older persons. On inclusion, we have older persons councils - through Age-Friendly Ireland - which very much engage with the local authorities. I am involving all older person representative organisations in the work I am doing in the context of the policy group on stakeholder engagement. We held a stakeholders' engagement last week that was very productive. Regarding policy initiatives, we revised the hou…

Taking the last point first, we have increased the grant amounts and income exemptions considerably. For instance, if someone has an income of below €40,000, they get 100% of the grant, the disabled persons grant and the housing adaptation grant, which was previously 95%. Furthermore, we have increased the level of the grants. We are always seeking to ensure that what is on offer meets the needs of people. The Deputy referred to Kerry. What is happening there can be replicated anywhere else in the country in terms …

I wish to thank the Deputies. There were three Deputies down. Is Deputy Pearse Doherty absent?

That is fine. I thank Deputies Conway-Walsh and Mac Lochlainn for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. As the Deputies will be aware, the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022, which commenced on 22 June 2023, contains the current grant scheme and the related regulations that were adopted on 29 June 2023. Following updated costs reports that the Department received from the Societ…

I thank both Deputies. I understand the frustration for people in these areas. As I already stated, the Minister and the Department sought legal advice that confirmed extending the increases the Deputies are talking about to a wider group of relevant owners requires amending the Act. I think everyone is agreeable on that. In the interest of equity and fairness, the Minister intends to extend the increase in the scheme cap and rates to apply to a wider group of relevant owners and this will be examined as part of th…

I can only deal with what is the position now. It is down for priority drafting. The Minister is taking this matter very seriously. As indicated, a number of other matters have come to light during the first 18 months of the operation of the scheme and the Minister will consider a number of technical amendments also as part of this legislative change. These changes will assist in the efficient administration of the scheme and will enable the smoother operation of the grant scheme for applicants. I have no doubt Dep…

Improving access to home support is a priority for this Government. Home support hours have increased every year since 2020, from 17.8 million hours in 2020 to a funded target of over 24 million hours in 2025, including intensive and complex home support. The HSE has reported that 5,556 people were assessed and waiting on the provision of home support at the end of 2024, including those waiting for a carer to be assigned and those waiting on funding to be allocated. This is a substantial reduction since the start o…

I thank the Deputy. I gave him global figures. I assumed he was going to ask me about CHO 8, his area.

It is across the spectrum and there are different areas. As regards the Deputy's area of CHO 8, the additional hours provided to March 2025 were 434 in terms of people waiting. The total number of people waiting was 791. At the end of December 2024, that number was 932. We have seen a reduction of 141 in the number of people waiting. This is a positive. At the end of December 2024, then, the figure for people waiting was 932, while at the end of March 2025 it was 791. This is an improvement of 141 people, which is …

We can say we are always looking to increase the level of funding that has gone into home care, but it has increased to €838 million from a base of just over €400 million in 2020. It is such that between 58,000 and 60,000 people are receiving the service. The key thing is that, since last December, we have seen a significant reduction in the numbers. Deputy Gould might want to bring me the particular human case he spoke about because there is a huge human factor here. I am obviously engaging with the officials and …

I wish Deputy Rice well in his new role as Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Health. No doubt, we will be working with him. The programme for Government commits to designing a statutory home care scheme to allow people to stay in their own home for as long as possible. As Minister of State with responsibility for older people and housing, I am fully committed to delivering the design of the scheme and the operational and legislative reform that will be necessary to underpin it. Achieving this commitment requires…

As Minister of State, I have a responsibility to navigate the introduction of a statutory home care scheme. I am utterly committed to it but it must be built on solid foundations and process. The home care sector is unregulated so we have to regulate it.

This is a statement of fact. That is the first step. We are looking at the funding model. The ESRI is doing a body of work, which I hope to receive very shortly, looking at capacity in the context of acute, older people and private health services, so it is part of it overall. The first step is to get the legislation passed to regulate the sector. We will look at a funding model to look to introducing a statutory home care scheme that gives people the right to statutory home care.

It is worth setting out the practical side of it. Since 2020, Government has increased the spending on home care packages by €338 million. That is a considerable amount of money that has clearly allowed people to stay in their homes. It is about choice. We must stick with the process. I am new in the role. A lot of work was done by my predecessor. It is now about bringing the legislation forward and bringing it through the Houses of the Oireachtas. I have no doubt we will be working on it in the Oireachtas Committe…