Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank all our witnesses. This is a very important matter. It is a fact that 50% of home care hours now are publicly provided and probably more than 40% are from the private sector. SIPTU's opening statement states that this trend is moving towards a model of private home care. There is a huge downside to that in respect of pay and conditions. I have just worked out that the mean hourly pay under the HCSA terms is probably €16.50 while in the private sector it is €12.50. That is a considerable difference per hour. A worker is paid probably €4 extra, if not more, in the public sector. Home care providers in the private sector get enormous amounts from the HSE to provide home care. Obviously, they are for-profit organisations and make their profit from that difference while also putting pressure on the pay and conditions of their workers. There is a reason workers are leaving the sector, particularly the private sector, and it is those pay and conditions. There is also a retention issue in that regard. There is no getting away from that, and it spills over into the public sector as well.

My main question is whether that is the case. There is a worry about what we have seen in the nursing home sector. Fifteen or 20 years ago, 80% of home care was provided by the State; now that share is 20% and the roles of the public sector and the private sector have reversed. In the same way as has happened to the nursing home sector, could the private sector essentially take over the home care sector? This should be a service for public good rather than profit. The latter brings with it a downward pressure on workers' wages, which is a really bad thing.