Latest Laois News: Big increase for Home Support Services in Laois

Major Funding for Home Support for County Laois – Fleming

Sean Fleming T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Finance is pleased to confirm the massive increase in funding for home support services right across the Midlands.

There is a 44% increase in funding this year compared to 2020. There is an increase of €20,367,300 which will bring the funding available to €66,175,216 up from €45,807,916 in 2020.

This increased funding by the Government is to address the home support waiting list in the older services section across the Leinster region which includes the four midland counties, Meath and Louth.

As part of ensuring that there is a better delivery in home support services it is important to structure the locations where this can be managed in each of the counties.

As a result of this there will be a dedicated Home Support Manager and three supporting staff specifically for the South Laois area and there will also be three staff for the North Laois/East Offaly area and there will be one Home Support Manager covering these areas. In all, there will be 7 staff to manage the service.

This will ensure that the service is delivered in a more timely manner to those people who need home support and that this decision can be made much more quickly and people given urgent priority.

It is good to see that the areas are broken down to smaller areas rather than being dealt with on a regional basis. This means that the people who are making the decisions will be much closer to the people who actually need it which will result in major improvements to the people requiring this service arising from the massive increase in funding that has been announced.

Finally, the cost of these extra staff will be only a tiny proportion of the actual increase in budget for the region and it will ensure that everybody gets the best service and from this funding.

The information note from the HSE on this matter is available below.