New incentives to encourage elderly people in need of long-term care to stay at home are to be included in the next Budget, the Minister for Health Mary Harney has said.
Speaking at a meeting of the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF) in Dublin today, Ms Harney promised a "substantial increase" in home care packages and a change in the nursing home subvention means test.
She said a key priority was to move away from the practice of placing people in residential care as a first option and to encourage people to stay in their own homes and communities.
Ms Harney admitted the State did not offer enough support to high dependency patients who want to remain at home.
"About 28 per cent of residents or about 5,000 people in long-stay beds were in low to medium dependency categories, and many of these could be cared for in their homes with the appropriate level of supports," she said.
Ms Harney said her Department also planned to change the means test for nursing home subvention.
Currently the State will pay a means-tested subvention towards the cost of a private nursing home bed, of between €114.30 and €190.50 per week.
At present under this scheme, a home that is valued at about €95,000 in the context of qualifying for a subvention is enough to negate the value of the subvention.
Ms Harney said: "This is ridiculous when the average cost of a second-hand home in Dublin is over €400,000. I intend soon to increase these assessment levels to make the application process more realistic."
In terms of residential care, she stated that new ways of delivering services had to be examined.
This may include offering contracts to the private sector to provide residential care for older people under the direction of the Health Service Executive, she said.
