Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter, to which I am responding on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. The Government is committed to the development of improved community-based services, shifting care to the home and offering greater choice for older people. In budget 2021, the Minister of State 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. The funding secured in budget 2021 to provide those additional 5 million hours has been maintained for 2022. In 2021, some 20.4 million hours were provided to more than 55,000 people. This is an increase of some 2.9 million hours, or 17%, compared with 2020.

Significant inroads have been achieved in reducing waiting lists for funding approval for new or additional services, from more than 7,800 in January 2020 to 286 in March 2022. This has been achieved through a combination of validation of the waiting list and availability of additional funds to deal with those waiting for care. However, there can be a lag between funding approval and the delivery of home support hours. Certain geographical areas have experienced increased pressures due to staff availability. At the end of March, there were 5,458 people assessed and waiting for a carer to become available. In January 2020, there were approximately 1,300 people in this category. Despite the increase, it is important to note that the total number of people waiting for home support across both categories has reduced from over 9,000 at the start of 2020 to 5,744 at the end of March. At the end of April, 1,553 people in north Cork were receiving home support. During the first four months of this year, almost 130,000 hours of home support were delivered in the area.

The HSE is acutely aware that there are staff resource issues across both direct and indirect provision of home support in north Cork and other areas. Provisional data show that at the end of April, there were 113 people waiting for a carer to provide a new or additional service. At that time, nobody was waiting for funding approval. The HSE continues to advertise on an ongoing basis throughout the region for healthcare support assistants and to recruit as many suitable candidates as possible. Due to the nature of the role, this recruitment is normally conducted at a very localised level. The HSE recently completed a substantial recruitment campaign for healthcare support assistants and successful candidates are currently completing final clearances prior to being assigned to their locations. A total of 13 of these new staff are due to take up positions in the north Cork area this month and will be allocated to clients currently wait-listed for home support. In addition, approved private home support providers continue to recruit home support workers.

The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is very aware of the strategic workforce challenges in the home support and nursing homes sector. She has established a cross-departmental strategic workforce advisory group to examine issues such as recruitment, retention, training, and the career development of front-line carers in home support and nursing homes into the future in order that solutions can be identified and implemented. It is also expected that pay and conditions for workers will be examined. The group, which is currently engaging with key sectoral stakeholders, is committed to providing the Minister of State with a set of recommendations by September.

See this speech in context