Last week I raised with the Taoiseach the issue of the inability to recruit and retain staff in home care services. Since then, several people have contacted me. I wish to put their stories on the record of the Dáil because it is really important. A woman rang me who is a healthcare worker. She said her mother lives with her. She is 89 years old and has advanced Alzheimer's. She has been in receipt of a HSE home care package approved in May 2017, delivered via the private agency Care for Me. On 8 September 2021, the HSE allocation received a 14-day withdrawal notice of all care to her mother from Care for Me agency. At no time did the agency indicate it to her. She said she was informed by the HSE on 10 September of the notice. Care for Me did provide a certain amount of care in that time but last week it announced that all care had been withdrawn. She was given a list of private home care providers to source and pay for herself. There is a crisis. What is the Government doing about it? Something has to be done for these people immediately and in the longer term.

On balance, it has to be acknowledged that very significant progress has been made on home support.

This is the reality on the ground, Taoiseach.

It is estimated that at the end of September 2021, some 15 million hours had been provided to over-----

We might have the capacity, but we do not have the personnel.

I refer to care that has been provided to 53,000 people. You get the impression sometimes coming in here that nothing at all is being done in any area.

For this family, nothing is being done.

This entails 2.2 million more hours compared to the same period last year. The waiting lists have come down from 7,800 in January 2020 to just over 400 in 2021. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has made a lot of progress on this and wants to make more progress. The Deputy is correct in that because we have made so much progress, there is now pressure on getting more staff in the home care area. We will see what we can to do improve conditions to attract more people.

This is a woman who had care for the last number of years and it has been withdrawn.