Mr. Damian Ginley:

Similar to what Mr. Donnelly has said, the biggest challenge we see in the provision of home care in the home is pay. In fairness to the Government, it has increased the funding allocation and the number of hours in this year's budget. If we do not attract people to carry out those duties, we go nowhere. Tax breaks and all these other measures may be considered but we seek an overhaul. Why put arrangements in place that throw good money after bad when we just need to consider the root problem? Similar evidence is growing in the childcare sector, despite the inroads being made there. We face a similar crisis in that sector. In our submission we have called for the opportunity for a collective bargaining mechanism for the private home care providers. That would allow us to establish terms and conditions of employment that could be deemed suitable.