Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

The fact of the matter is that in recent times workers from the private home care sector have been going into the HSE because the jobs are better paid, they are respected more and they get a pension and sick pay etc. In addition, people are not taking up the jobs in the private sector because of the conditions. It is a fundamental issue facing the healthcare service across the board. Last night we discussed the Sinn Féin motion on ambulance services and learned that the annual spend on private ambulance services rose from €2.1 million in 2011 to €10.1 million in 2019. How much are these private companies getting from the State to serve clients and people who need support in their homes? They are getting €30 an hour. The Secretary General of the Department of Health was offered a salary of €400,000 a year, which works out at approximately €200 an hour. That salary was not implemented but I presume the head of the HSE is on something similar. What a contrast that is with the pay of agency workers on a minimum wage, doing the work they are doing, having to travel in the way they must travel and paying for parking and petrol or bus fares. Will the Taoiseach move to employ these people directly in the HSE?

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