Consultation
Public Consultation on Draft Regulations for Providers of Home Support Services
From Department of Health
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Submissions closed
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Consultation is closed
The Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, has launched a public consultation on draft regulations for providers of home support services. These regulations set out the minimum requirements that public, private and not-for-profit providers of home support services will be required to meet to obtain a license to operate.
The Programme for Government and the Sláintecare Implementation Strategy commit to the introduction of a new Home Support Scheme to support people to live in their own homes, which will provide equitable access to high-quality, regulated home support.
The closing submission date for the Department of Health’s Public Consultation on Draft Regulations for Providers of Home Support Services has been extended to 5:00pm Thursday August 4th 2022. You can make your views known by completing the online survey below.
The Department of Health is developing a new statutory scheme for home support services. In April 2021, the government gave approval to draft a General Scheme and Heads of a Bill to establish a licensing framework for home-support providers. These draft regulations set out the minimum requirements needed to get a license. The purpose of the licensing system will be to ensure that home support services are of consistently high quality as well as to safeguard service-users.
The regulation of Home Support services impact on a wide range of stakeholders including service providers, service users, home support workers and family carers. The Department of Health wishes to obtain the views of those stakeholders and the wider public. A public consultation on the regulations will be open from Thursday 16 June 2022.
The draft regulations are available to read below. A plain English summary version of the regulations is available below, along with a list of frequently asked questions.
Draft Regulations for Providers of Home Support Services
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Frequently Asked Questions on Regulations for Providers of Home Support Services
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An Easy Read summary of the draft regulations and consultation method is also available.
A PDF document is available for download below:
Printable Survey of Draft Regulations for Providers of Home Support Services
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It can be returned to the following email address HSRConsultation@health.gov.ie or postal address:
Home Support Reform
Address:
Department of Health, Block 1, Miesian Plaza, 50 - 58 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, D02 XW14
Closing date for receipt of submissions and completion of the survey is 5pm on Thursday, 4th August 2022.
The online survey is available on smartphone, desktop and tablet.
The Disability Participation and Consultation Network (DPCN) will be holding two online information sessions about the Regulations on Thursday 14 July 2022.
Register your interest by emailing disabilityparticipation@gmail.com
A report on the findings of the public consultation will be prepared by the Institute of Public Health for the Department of Health. The Department of Health will publish a consultation report later this year. Your views will contribute to the further development of Legislation governing Home Support.
Personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information should not be included in your submission. If personally identifiable details are included they will be deleted. All submissions and survey answers are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and are also subject to Data Protection legislation.