Ms Catherine Keogh:

It is that stark, and especially at a time, as we mentioned in our submission, when the HSE should be upsizing and getting ready to meet an increased demand when it is put on a statutory footing. There is a lot of common ground between the two unions here. We have to value the work that home support workers do. That is a key issue. These roles were originally known as the home help co-ordinators and the home helps. The key to part of this issue is the names we use to describe the work that was carried out. It was seen as just a job in the parish where somebody went in and did a couple of hours, not as the major function of social care that it actually is. That is part of the reason we are in this recruitment crisis.