Modest means-tested contribution could keep Home Support afloat

We need new methods of funding so that we can help the elderly stay in their own homes for longer – and thereby avoid sending people to hospital

The HSE’s Home Support Service packages allow vulnerable elderly people or people with serious medical conditions to remain in their homes instead of being institutionalised in an acute hospital or a nursing home.

They will cost about €450 million this year, but the resulting saving for taxpayers is indisputable. The average cost of keeping someone in their home is about €165 a week, while a stay in hospital costs the state about €6,000 ...