Hogan seeks savings of €500k from portfolio to fund elderly alarm scheme

Funding cuts to a scheme providing personal panic alarms for the elderly could be partly reversed if Phil Hogan, the environment minister, can find savings elsewhere in his budget.

The minister is looking for savings of €500,000 from other areas in his portfolio to put into the scheme following the public backlash over the removal of the entitlements for people over 65 not living alone.

The funding for the scheme was cut from €2.2m to €1.1m this year.