Ms Sarah Cooney:

As Dr. MacLellan mentioned, we are at an advanced stage in the development of a regulatory framework for home support providers. We hope to seek Government approval shortly to move forward with this approach to introducing a licensing framework for professional home support providers. We have begun the work on the drafting of the legislation. I am referring to both the primary legislation and the secondary legislation in respect of the regulations that would be needed. We hope to proceed to stakeholder consultation and public consultation on the regulations in the second quarter of this year.

The third element of the regulatory framework is the development of national standards for home supports providers. Our colleagues in HIQA are working with us in regard to that. It will provide the guidance and support for home support providers to enable them to meet their regulatory requirements and to focus on quality improvement in that work. As Dr. MacLellan said, we hope to progress this significantly this year in terms of seeking Government approval to move ahead with the drafting of the heads of Bills, with a view to having them published, undertaking the comprehensive regulatory impact assessment that would be required as part of that process and then bringing the legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas at the earliest opportunity in 2021.