Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My experience is the opposite to what Ms McArdle just said. I do not accept that the number relating to the waiting list is not known. I do not mean it is not known to Ms McArdle personally. The waiting list has been growing significantly and the HSE has refused to supply to me the information I sought on the communications between CHO directors and the HSE head director of services for the elderly. There is a lack of transparency in that regard. Before we can understand how the HSE needs to address the future in terms of home care and Covid-19, we need a lot more transparency from the organisation, which I have not got. I have been frustrated at every turn. It concerns me when my constituents who, in many cases, have complex needs are not being made or are being met for only half an hour a day, which is impossible for people. While I welcome the initiative and what Ms McArdle had to say, I ask that she or one of her colleagues would release all of the information I sought. It was refused on the grounds that the communications formed part of the deliberate process of the HSE in the last financial year. I asked that the information be released at the end of that year and I was promised it would be released, but it was not.

It is important to point out that where home care is being provided there is a significant lack of development of Covid measures. I have discussed this with some of the organisations. Home care protects people much better than institutional care. Do the witnesses have figures on that? They are of huge importance and would support the argument being made. Where does the proposal for a statutory home care package stand in terms of calendar months?