Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair, who I know has been a strong advocate for home care for many years. We see the challenges especially at weekends in rural areas, like Saturday and Sunday. Home care works really well from Monday to Friday in a lot of areas but if you are in a particularly isolated area and you need two carers three times a day on a Saturday and Sunday, it can prove problematic. Obviously, carers do a great job but need time off as well. They have to have their own work-life balance. They are areas where we have been trying to think outside the box. All the various Departments were included in the strategic workforce advisory group. We were working closely with the Department of Social Protection too, because we are exploring areas where some people might come back and do ten, 12 or 15 hours a week but their entitlement to a medical card might be affected. For example, some people might come back and do three hours a day but cannot sign on for those days. We are trying to look at all those different angles to see if we can get people who might no longer be working but who might be in a position to come back and do between ten and 15 hours a week, which could take a lot of pressure off. I understand completely about the waiting list in CHO 4, covering Cork and Kerry, around CAMHS. We have seen it almost doubled. A lot of difficulties remain in terms of staff but we are acutely aware of it and I am in constant talks to see what we can do with Michael Fitzgerald, who is the chief officer down there, and Kevin Morrison, who is the lead on mental health services. There are some areas performing much better than others. There are reasons for this but at the end of the day, there is a child waiting for support and that is something we are putting a complete focus on.