Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and I acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White.

Previous speakers have mentioned the regulation of home care provision. Until recently, the provision of residential care in institutions was not regulated or inspected. It took a scandal, unearthed by "Prime Time Investigates" to establish the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, and for minimum standards to be introduced.

The Law Reform Commission report, Legal Aspects of Professional Home Care, recommended that HIQA be given additional regulatory and inspection powers to ensure that appropriate legal standards are in place for undertakings providing professional home care, that is, that the State would provide a set of minimum standards, supervised by HIQA, to ensure that private home care providers which are outside the loop of the HSE are doing the right thing. I have mentioned this issue three of four times in the House. I have a personal involvement in the matter. Families who are dependent on home care providers, whether commercial or publicly funded, want to know that someone who is looking after an elderly relative or semi-independent adult, because this issue does not only affect old people, is properly trained and has the necessary skills, that an inspection regime is in place, that there are consequences if things go wrong and that these things can be examined on a renewable and continual basis. That is not the case at present.

The Programme for Government 2010-2016 commits the Government, in principle, to introducing legislation for this matter. However, we recently saw another "Prime Time Investigates" exposé of this issue. Given that we will shortly hold a referendum to enshrine the rights of the child in the Constitution for the first time, it is important that we introduce legislation to ensure that people who are in receipt of home care services, whether home help hours or packages provided privately and funded through the HSE, are guaranteed a minimum standard assured by HIQA so that action can be taken, if necessary.

Recently, the Minister for Health visited St. Ita's community hospital in my constituency and enunciated the importance of maintaining people in their home environment. This is critical. To achieve this, multidisciplinary services must be provided. The services of a physiotherapist and occupational therapist are essential. The home help is often the person on whom all of this hinges. It is often the home help who makes the telephone call and arranges to have the public health nurse come and change bandages, and so on. The home help is often the last line of defence.

Home helps need legislative protection to ensure that the standard they are working to is enshrined in law and that they have the protection of the law, as professional providers who are entrusted by the community to look after people. I quote from the Law Reform Commission report of 30 June 2012, to which I referred earlier. It states:

The main beneficiaries of the proposed new HIQA regulation will be those over 65. The proposed system should apply to professional home care provided to any adult over 18 in their own home. There should be a specific register of professional home carers which would set out the specific requirements in relation to the registration and monitoring of professional home carers.

In 2012, it is not too much to ask that a service provided and funded by the State would be covered by regulation. I implore the Minister of State, as a matter of urgency, to bring such legislation forward.

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