18/05/2012 00:00
TW
0

Palma.—Social Welfare Councillor Sandra Fernandez said yesterday that the increase in budget would mean that providing food in the home for those who cannot help themselves will enable the Red Cross to extend the service to 11 percent more users.

Fernandez said that the increasingly ageing population and the financial crisis have prompted an upturn in the demand for meals on wheels. The extra money will help cover all the needs in this area in the short to medium term, the Councillor claimed.

The service is provided as part of the Dependency Law whereby the government is obliged to care for the elderly and infirm who can prove that they cannot support themselves. However, the provision is means tested and recipients in one extreme could be subsidised 100 percent, or at the other end of the scale, could have to pay entirely for the service out of their own pockets. The terms and conditions of the meals on wheels service were agreed at yesterday's City Council meeting to last for the next two years and could in the event be extended for a further two.

Fernandez said that at the moment the waiting list for meals on wheels is virtually nil as over the past year, the council has taken action to respond to the demand.

Although the service is directed at older people or the handicapped who for one reason or another are unable to cook their own food, the Red Cross prioritises those who live alone, are unable to support themselves financially and who have no family to turn to.

The daily menu is adjusted according to the needs of the individual, Fernandez said.
However, the Planning department meanwhile has said that it will not now be granting building licenses for three day centres for the elderly, projects which were passed during the previous Socialist coalition government. The ruling Partido Popular (PP) said yesterday that the decision has been taken due to “lack of demand,” but added construction will go ahead when it is clear there is social need for it.