Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question and his continued interest in this particular sector. We have had many conversations on it. He is right the demand for home support has never been higher and its importance as an alternative service to long stay care has grown considerably over the past number of years. It is also a much more cost-effective way for the State to support people compared with them being in acute hospitals or nursing homes. In budget 2021 I secured additional funding of €150 million to progress the development of a reformed model of service delivery to underpin the statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home support services and to provide 5 million additional hours of home support. I am delighted this funding has been maintained into 2022.

Last year we delivered 20.9 million hours, which is up 2.9 million on the previous year. That is a huge increase. We are currently supporting 55,000 people on a daily basis but there are challenges. On the figures the Deputy referred to, we had three areas that were especially problematic, namely, CHOs 4, 5 and 7. This week alone I had meetings with the chief officer and the older person's lead in both CHO 4 and CHO 7 to see what more I can do to help them. One thing we have done is I have put in place a cross-departmental strategic workforce advisory group. This group has met all the key stakeholders. We are trying to make home care an attractive, viable option as a career choice. That group is working well. There will be significant recommendations out of this I will bring to the Minister and with his support these can be brought to Cabinet. We will be looking for funding in next year's Estimates because this is a serious piece of work. The second piece I discussed with the Minister of State, Deputy English, yesterday concerned working outside the EU to encourage people and to make permits available so those outside the EU might come to Ireland to provide home care.

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