Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have had many conversations about home care, and I know everybody feels the same. I am in a unique position as Minister of State in that I have a budget of €672 million to deliver home care. Every one of those packages, apart from what comes in rolling over ten or 14 days, is funded. The other ones will be funded very quickly. The issue is not funding.

One issue we have, and I provided money in the Estimates last year and again this year for it, is that some of the CHOs, not all of them, are still working on a paper basis. They do not have a fit-for-purpose information technology, IT, system. We piloted an Irish company, which I will not name, in CHO 3, which is the area of Limerick, Clare and parts of Tipperary. This pilot has worked extremely well. I wrote to Mr. Paul Reid last week to see if it can rolled out across all nine CHOs. All the chief officers are very supportive of it. Trying to work a paper system for home care in 2022 is not fit for purpose. The IT system would also be way more effective with regard to waiting lists.

I will provide the note requested by Deputy O'Dowd.

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