Lisbon, Feb. 16, 2021 (Lusa) - Portugal plans to invest €583 million in social amenities and services under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) to increase places in kindergartens and remove the elderly from institutions.

According to the document, the government put out to public consultation on Tuesday, Portugal wants to invest the money in five projects - three on the mainland, one in the Autonomous Region of the Azores and another on Madeira - to strengthen, upgrade and innovate the social responses aimed at children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

António Costa's government has earmarked €417 million for early childhood, the elderly and people with disabilities, defining one of its first objectives to create 28,000 new vacancies, especially in the North, Lisbon Metropolitan Area and Algarve, where there is a more significant deficit.

On the other hand, it also wants to requalify the already existing amenities and resolve the amenities in an irregular situation, foreseeing "interventions at the level of the building and the facilities".

These interventions aim to create, qualify, and equip sanitary isolation spaces for contingency situations and purchase wi-fi solutions and computer equipment, "to facilitate communication and improve the buildings' energy efficiency".

Another goal is to create multidisciplinary social intervention teams covering the entire country to support the most vulnerable people, including helping people with disabilities in their autonomy and inclusion processes.

Regarding social amenities and responses, the government acknowledges that its goal is to reform the support for the elderly, starting with the licensing of care homes for the elderly that are illegal, "whenever possible", but also with the revision of the legislative framework regarding the licensing of social amenities.

On the other hand, it says that it wants to train the care provided in the homes and promote innovative social responses that avoid the institutionalisation of the elderly in "large scale" solutions, focusing instead on small residential responses with a family environment.

According to the document, home support investment is also foreseen, making it closer and more flexible, taking into account the residents' needs and helping to postpone dependence and the need for institutionalisation.

Madeira expects €83 million to reinforce the residential and non-residential structures for the elderly, where 1,130 more beds are planned, the creation of responses that operate at night, and support facilities for the homeless the social support network.

Regarding the Azores, the government will allocate €35 million to implement the regional strategy to combat poverty and social exclusion, with responses for children and young people, people with disabilities, but also needy families, starting with the 10% reduction in the monthly fees of nurseries or with the integration into the labour market of people in severe social exclusion.

SV/ADB // ADB.

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