Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last year, when the Covid lockdowns were in effect, I raised the issue of a young man with muscular dystrophy. He was in receipt of minimal home care assistance at the time. I was told that despite being promised more care hours, they would not be provided due to shortages of healthcare workers in the south-east. Of course, Covid was used as a primary excuse here and yet here we are again speaking up for the many people who this Government has let down continuously because of its failure to plan for a significant workforce or to address long-term pay and conditions. As a result of this ongoing inability of the Government to address this, 1,561 people in community health organisation, CHO 5, which includes south Tipperary, and 461 in CHO 3, which includes north Tipperary, are waiting for a home care assistant despite being approved.

Repeatedly we are told, when facilities such St. Brigid's in Carrick-on-Suir or the Dean Maxwell in Roscrea are closing, that care in the home is the direction the Government wants to focus on. It is fair enough to pursue the goal of more care in the home. What is not fair is to close those important community facilities without having the alternatives in place and yet this is what we see from this Government - closing St. Brigid's in a secretive manner, preparing for the closure of Dean Maxwell but not having any alternatives in place locally. Instead, the Government makes people travel for the care they need or locate it miles away from their locality and their families. The Government makes plans without investing in the alternative. That is why almost 10% of all older people approved for home care have no carer.

The HSE admits that issues such as the contracts of employment terms and conditions are a factor in the recruitment challenges faced by the sector. Sinn Féin wants a health system that is planned in a way that supply and qualification meet demand so that we have a service that people can depend on. That is why we are calling for the establishment of a commission on care to bring together social care sectors and stakeholders to modernise the home care sector and better align the range of care services. We need to see the establishment of a high-level workforce planning group to deliver accountability and joined-up cross-Government planning for training, recruitment and retention of health and social care professionals across the sector. If the Government thinks that carers and home care workers will magically appear without this level of planning, the problem that already exists under its watch will only get worse and it is the people with the most need who will suffer.

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