Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her question. She has raised this issue with me on many occasions. The Government has prioritised improved access to home support services through an additional investment of €150 million in 2021 for these services, which has been maintained under budget 2022. Estimated data indicate more than 13.2 million home support hours had been provided between January and August which is approximately 2 million more hours compared against August 2020. The number of people assessed and waiting on funding has significantly reduced through 2020 and 2021.  This has mainly been as a result of validation of waiting lists and availability of funding. I have the CHO 7 figures. Some 250 people were waiting for funding approval at the end of August 2021, including 21 from Dublin south city; 98 from Dublin south-west; 53 from Dublin west; and 78 from Kildare and west Wicklow. However, at the end of June 2020, 1,232 people were waiting, and therefore, there has been a significant reduction.

The HSE will continue to work towards increasing home support provision.

However, there are difficulties recruit with recruitment and retention of staff, with certain areas experiencing increased pressures. This can lead to delays between the approval of funding and the delivery of home support hours. When I came into the post, more than 7,200 people were waiting for approval of funding for home care supports. That figure has fallen by 88%, but now we have another challenge, which is the recruitment of home care workers. I am in a situation now where I have the budget to pay for it, but we are having difficulty in recruiting the home care workers. As a result, the Department is committed to establishing a strategic workforce advisory group with involvement of key stakeholders. I will talk more about that in a minute.

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