Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

There are a number of issues I wish to raise. We have talked about this particular issue previously and I agree with what has been said. These organisations are losing clinical staff because they cannot pay the same rates as the HSE. In many cases, the services being provided should be public services but often the charities are more flexible and are being paid less by the State for comparable work. There is a real issue there. I ask that before the representatives come in, they provide us with some context for the table on page 7 on home support services in the various CHOs. Expenditure in the year to date is one thing but we need to know what the waiting lists are like. Just giving us those figures is not enough. It looks like one area is doing better than another but the size of the catchment area for the CHOs provides a context, as does the length of the waiting lists. There may be a much longer waiting time in an area that seems to be under-provided for than in an area that appears to have a lot of money. I do not think the table on its own is sufficient. I would like to see that additional information before we meet them.