merrion street

Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler TD, has today announced the selection of four sites for a new Home Support Pilot. The pilot will test a reformed model of service-delivery for home support which will underpin the development of the statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home support services.   

The pilot will deliver an additional 230,000 hours of home support over a six-month period through funding allocated under the HSE National Service Plan.  

The four Community Health Network (CHN) sites selected for the pilot are (CHO 2) Tuam, Athenry and Loughrea (CHO 4) Bandon, Kinsale and Carrigaline (CHO 7) Ballyfermot and Palmerstown and (CHO 8) East Westmeath.  

Minister Butler said: “The selection of sites for the Home Support Pilot marks a significant milestone on the Programme for Government’s commitment to introduce a statutory scheme to support people to live in their own homes, for as long as possible, and provide equitable access to high-quality, regulated home care.” 

Mobilisation of the Home Support Pilot will commence at the end of August 2021, with training, IT, and governance systems due to be put in place.  

Minister Butler confirmed that: “A National Home Support Office will be established to support the testing of the reformed model of service delivery. In addition, approximately 130 posts have been funded for the national rollout of the InterRAI Ireland system, which the home support pilot will test as the standard assessment tool for care needs.”  

In parallel, work is ongoing by the Department of Health to progress other aspects of the scheme, including the development of a regulatory framework, and the examination of options for the financing model.  

Minister Butler concluded that: “The progression of this scheme has been one of my key priorities, and I am delighted to have made this critical step forward with the selection of sites for the Home Support Pilot.” 

ENDS//