Home care package shortages
Deputy Collins says staff recruitment and retention failures are leading to cuts in approved home care packages despite extra funding. Minister of State Butler says more home care hours have been delivered and the waiting list for funding has fallen sharply.
I give best wishes to everybody inside and outside the House over the festive season. There is a cohort of families who will find it difficult over the Christmas season. Five weeks ago in Leaders' Questions to the Taoiseach I raised the inability to recruit and retain staff in the crucial area of home care services. Despite the increased allocation of hours in the budget by the Government, people depending on home care services received cuts in their approved home care package due to the incapacity of private home care companies to provide these packages. Then we saw the HIQA report of 5,000 patents waiting to get the home care packages because of lack of capacity.
The Ministers have gone outside the box with Student Universal Support Ireland and social welfare for people to come into this field, but they are bringing them into the same bad pay and conditions in the private health companies that have caused people to leave. Is the policy of the Government to recruit carers directly to the HSE to provide crucial services for people who are at a loss?
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy for her question. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I wish everybody a happy, peaceful and restful Christmas and thank everyone in the House for the work they do.
The Deputy's question has been raised many times in the House. It is important to record that this year we have already delivered 2.5 million more home care hours than last year. A total of 55,000 people received home care every day in this country. I thank the Government for increasing the budget to €666 million. Funding is not the issue and the list of those waiting for funding has dropped by 88%, but there are 5,300 people waiting on home care supports. As we speak, Anne O'Connor, the chief operations officer of the HSE, and industrial relations, IR, in the HSE are having a meeting. I know for a fact that community healthcare organisation, CHO, 4, Cork and Kerry, is recruiting 300 staff into the HSE and we are doing targeted recruitment in areas, especially rural areas, where there is a lack of carers. We are trying to think outside the box and I am working on this every day to try to make a difference.