Bluebird Care opens dedicated office in Meath

The recent crisis in funding for the government's Fair Deal nursing home support scheme has seen an upsurge in interest in the alternative area of home care for the aged. While some people would like to live out their days in a nursing home, others would prefer to be looked after in the comfortable surroundings of their own home while it still remains possible to do so, according to JJ Fay and Gavin Kane from Navan, directors of Bluebird Care Meath, a private home care company that provides highly qualified care staff in people's homes. The Bluebird Care operation dedicated to Meath recently commenced business and is up and running from an office in Johnstown, Navan. Bluebird is a preferred provider of home care for the HSE, VHI Home Care and is a member of the Irish Home Care Association. "We are a provider of a wide range of home care and elderly care services to people of all ages in their own homes. When any of us are faced with a situation that additional care is required for either ourselves, a loved one or a friend, it is often thought that the stark choice is either to live self-sufficiently, without help, or go into a home. Bluebird Care offers people a realistic alternative by providing highly qualified, experienced, Garda-vetted care givers into their homes. This allows people to live comfortably at home with familiar friends, relatives and possessions around them, no upheaval, no stress," said Mr Fay. "The private homecare sector is a relatively new sector in Ireland and, as of yet, has not been regulated. However, our sister company in the UK is fully registered with the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Care Quality Commission, which is the UK government's regulating body and our company here in Ireland has to operate to the same exacting standards," he added. The cost of providing care for incapacitated persons in their own home is allowable against tax and can be claimed either by the incapacitated person, their spouse, a relative or their legal guardian at the top rate (41 per cent) up to the significant amount of €50,000 per year. This relief can be claimed monthly, so this type of care can be provided at a net cost equivalent to that of a babysitting service. The company says it can provide 24/7 care for as little as €750 per week under this provision. Bluebird Care has also now appointed a medical director, the only home care company in Ireland to do so; he is Professor Stephen Lane, consultant respiratory and general physician at Tallaght Hospital, Peamount Hospital and professor of respiratory medicine at Trinity College, Dublin. The company has 14 other locations throughout Ireland with up to five more opening in 2011, each locally owned and employing highly qualified local people. "We are delighted to be creating these jobs in County Meath. The service we provide depends on local knowledge and local carers to build strong relationships with our customers; therefore, it is essential that we employ local people," added JJ Fay.