Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was looking for a comment on the difficulties. The Minister of State has accurately described the recruitment difficulties and I am sure they exist. I am not convinced, and the Minister of State has probably heard me say this on more than one occasion, that outsourcing this function to the private sector is the best way to do it. In many cases, notwithstanding the good work done by the individuals providing the care, it does not represent good value for money. The prioritisation of people who are being discharged from hospital and people who need palliative care does absolutely nothing to help keep people out of hospital. The Minister of State will be aware of that.

I want to bring two cases to the Minister of State's attention. A father and son met me last Monday. Their wife and mother has a very severe form of dementia. She is in Beaumont Hospital now and cannot get out to the community. They want to look after her at home. They were offered six hours. After they kicked up, they got another seven hours. They have 13 hours but they need a minimum of 30 hours a week. They cannot access them. Another case is that of an 82-year-old woman with diabetes who is effectively confined to her home. Her daughter is working 16 hours a day to look after her. There are very real cases and they cannot access home care. If the Minister of State is serious about home care the resources have to be put into it and we need to target recruitment. The best way to do that is not by outsourcing.

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