Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Ceann Comhairle back and wish him well.

Undoubtedly, the Minister of State is aware there is a crisis in home care provision. More than 40,000 home care hours are not being delivered weekly and more than 6,000 people approved for funding are still on the waiting list for care. The crisis is the recruitment and retention of staff. The root cause of this issue is sectorial employment standards. During the summer, I met with several groups representing the care sector and they all spoke with one voice in outlining the reason we are in this crisis. The representatives of some of those groups told me they met with the Department but they feel they were not listened to and that the meetings were just a box-ticking exercise, with no clear actions arising from them. The time for talking is over. It is now time for action. We need a root-and-branch reform of home care. We must value the people being cared for and this must start with valuing the work being done by those who care for them.

Where is the long-awaited pandemic bonus payment for the people who risked their lives and saved so many others? The sector is totally neglected and this needs to change.

While the crisis is bad now, there is a ticking time bomb of demographics. When I met with the national community care network, I was told that the average age of its 3,000 carers is 60 years of age. I have spoken to individual carers. They are overworked and underpaid and they feel undervalued.

We must make home care an attractive career option with opportunities for advancement and training. Home care workers must be added to the critical skills list for employment visas and permits. Each worker must have guaranteed hours and must be provided with payment for travel and subsistence.

Delivering proper home care would reduce the length of hospital stays, as Deputy Cullinane said, and reduce the risk of hospitalisation which would reduce pressures on the emergency departments and reduce delayed discharges. The State must step up to the plate. We need a two-pronged approach. The Government must address the recruitment and retention crisis but it is equally important that it advance vital regulation for the home care sector and make this legislation a priority. If the Government will not deliver a promised commission on care, Sinn Féin in government will.

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