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

I completely understand the frustration felt by the public health nurses to whom the Deputy spoke, the frustration and anger, probably, of the family he referred to for whom support was withdrawn, and his own frustration and anger in dealing with these situations. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, sees the urgency of the situation. She met the chief officer of community healthcare organisation, CHO, 9 last week to discuss the issue of home care provision. There is a renewed focus on the advertising of care roles on local radio and social media. It is important to note that funding is not an issue here. The funding is provided; the difficulty is with the process of getting people into those roles.

The number of home support hours in communities is increasing, in line with the enhanced investment the Minister of State has secured. Delivering this enhanced capacity requires substantial recruitment, which has been affected by the strategic workforce challenges in the home support sector. Efforts are ongoing to meet the continuing increased demand. As I said, the Minister of State has established an advisory group, which is looking to identify and remove the specific obstacles to recruitment in order that we can use the money that has been secured to deliver extra staff and additional hours of care to families. In addition, work to progress the development of the new statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home support services is continuing within the broader context of Sláintecare reform. This work encompasses the development of the regulatory framework for the new scheme, examination of the options for the financing model for the scheme and the development of a reformed model for service delivery.

I will, of course, raise the Deputy's specific concerns with the Minister of State. I thank him for highlighting them in the House today.

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