Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I notice Deputy Joan Collins is also here and listening; we had a discussion earlier in the back corridor, and many other Deputies have raised the situation with me.

The issue is not funding. If the issue was funding, I would be able to go and look for more funding and I feel I would secure it. My budget for home care for this year is €666 million, it increased by €150 million this year and I have secured the same increase for next year, which is to deliver 24 million hours of home care. The Deputy is right that Covid has taught us the value of caring for people at home. I want to see the Sláintecare model, that is, the right care at the right time in the right place, as close to home as possible.

By the end of October, almost 17 million hours had been provided to over 54,000 people, which is about 2.5 million more hours compared to the period last year, so we have made a lot of improvements this year alone. Significant inroads have been achieved in reducing the waiting list for funding approval for new and additional services. In January 2020, there were 7,800 people waiting for funding and it was down to 400 in September 2021, so I have managed to reduce the number of those waiting for funding for home care by 88%.

Therein lies the problem and the problem has got worse during the year. There are delays between the approval of funding and the delivery of home support hours, and the number of people in this category has increased steadily this year, primarily due to staff capacity issues. At the end of September this year, there were 4,933 people assessed and waiting for care to become available but the funding has been provided to provide the package. That is the most frustrating part for me - the fact I actually have the funding for the first year ever. I often stood on the other side at the House, talking to my predecessor, the former Minister of State, Jim Daly, and the funding was not available at the time due to different issues. Now, the funding is available, which is what makes it most frustrating.

The HSE is acutely aware there are increasing capacity issues across both direct and indirect provision. It continues to advertise on an ongoing basis for healthcare assistants and it recruits as many suitable candidates as possible. For example, the community healthcare organisation, CHO, covering the Deputy's area, CHO 4, is recruiting 300 home care assistants and that was put out for advertising last week. Every single HSE area and every single CHO is trying to recruit as many people as possible. They are recruiting through a variety of channels, both at local level and through the shared services office of the HSE's health business services. I recently started a round of meetings with the older person's lead in each CHO to discuss these challenges and to discuss day-care respite and community step-down. If we want to keep the throughput in our acute hospitals, the only way we can do that is by having the supports at home. I am also meeting regularly with Home and Community Care Ireland, HCCI, which represents the private providers, and they also continue to recruit home support workers.

I have established a cross-departmental strategic workforce advisory group. The role of the group will be to facilitate the views of stakeholders and to examine workforce challenges in home support and nursing homes. The areas to be considered include recruitment, retention, training, career development and the sustainable employment of home care workers into the future.

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