Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in this morning. Following on from Deputy Durkan's questions about the difference between that which is provided by the private sector and the public sector and the budgets, it makes no sense to me that the budgets would be separate because then it would almost be like a target to be reached rather than basket to take from. Has anybody any figures on the proportion of women in carer jobs? I used to be a carer when I was a student in Tullamore hospital and my memory of it was that it was nearly all women in the job. I refer to the €11 an hour wage and the correlation, which seems very apparent to me, with people working within the childcare sector, that is, that this is a vocational job and people should, out of goodwill, work with somebody and be his or her person of contact on a daily basis. This seems disrespectful to the career of caring and to those people providing the service.

Perhaps the private providers will outline where that margin from €11 to €26 arises. While I understand there are operational costs with a business, it seems excessive that the gross would be €26 and it would net down to €11 for the employee. Can we have some figures on what that margin goes towards? If it is not providing cars or expenses, I would like to know where it is going.

Has any proper qualitative analysis been done on the outcomes for people in their homes in terms of consistency of care? If a person receives home care for 15 minutes or a half an hour every day of the week and it is provided by a different person each day, has there been any sort of analysis done on? It seems logical that it would have a negative impact, especially on older people living alone, where a new person comes into their home every time. It would appear to be very disruptive.

It would also lead to a reduced standard in care because while many carers are not authorised to administer medication, they do check if it has been taken. There is a huge responsibility on the carer in building a relationship with the client. Have the organisations undertaken studies on the negative outcomes for the patient of a lack of consistency in service provision?

On the issue of a separate budget, I am concerned as to why private companies would want it. Deputy Durkan asked about the difference in pay between the private and public sectors, which I do not believe Mr. Fitzgerald answered. When I was doing the job 15 years ago as a student, for me it was a well-paid job. I am sure those who are doing the job now are doing so to fund mortgages and their families and so it is probably not a particularly well-paid job in comparison with other professions. Deputy O'Reilly spoke about the minimum time for a visit, such that carers only have time to stick their heads in the door and check a person's pulse. To my mind, this is the opposite of the word "carer".