Elderly care project hit by year-long delay

A PROJECT to install CCTV cameras in housing schemes, occupied by elderly people, has yet to be implemented a year after being announced.

Separately, the Government has been accused of shelving a report which would standardise social alarm services for elderly people.

The delays emerged on a day when the Government made an appeal for St Patrick’s Day to be seen “as an occasion to recognise the enormous contribution of older people” to the building of the modern economy. But the Government itself has been slow to act on two key elements of elderly care.

Last March, the then justice minister Michael McDowell announced the CCTV scheme, saying it would “help prevent criminals from preying on our elderly citizens”.

The project was to operate on a pilot basis initially, involving 12 local authority housing schemes occupied by older persons.

The department said the project would also be open to housing schemes operated by charities and not-for-profit organisations.

The project would “commence in the coming weeks”, the department pledged at the time.

But, one year later, Justice Minister Brian Lenihan admitted the project is still being finalised.

He said the guidelines and technical specifications for the project were still being worked out.

Mr Lenihan was responding to questions on the issue from Fianna Fáil TD Mattie McGrath who queried the reasons for the delay.

The Government has also been accused of shelving a report which would have standardised social alarm and telecare services for elderly people.

The report, entitled Proposed Irish Standard for Social Alarm Monitoring, was submitted in 2004 by a working group established by the then junior health minister Ivor Callely.

The working group was charged with examining how standards could be introduced for companies monitoring social alarms, such as the types worn around the neck. Elderly people use them to contact the companies involved and facilitate a “speech path” so the person can be reassured and help called in the case of falls or break-ins.

The report covered areas such as the training of staff, the handling of telephone information and ensuring elderly people using the service would get a fair deal.

While the report was compiled under the aegis of the Department of Health, responsibility for social alarm monitoring is spread between a number of Government departments.

A spokesman for the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs said: “The department shared the findings of the report with the commercial suppliers of personal alarms and sought observations.

“On foot of the report, the department liaised with the National Standards Authority of Ireland to discuss issues regarding standards for personal alarms. A number of options are available to the department in this regard and the department continues to monitor the situation.”

One of the members of the group involved in compiling the report, Jack Keaveney of Reach Out — Action On Elder Abuse, has called for an explanation as to why the report has still not been acted on.