Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is 15 years since I first engaged with politicians in relation to the issue of home carers and home helps. I was representing them at the time and we warned politicians that there was a crisis coming in home care because of the terms and conditions of employment and because of the privatisation which, as the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, will be aware, fired the starting gun for the race to the bottom.

There is nobody in this House or anywhere else who will dispute that home helps and home carers are good value for money. They are exceptional value for money but when one spends that money in the private sector there is always a premium to be paid to the shareholders, to the owners etc. When one spends it on not-for-profits or directly employed home helps, every shilling that one spends goes into home care delivery. The privatisation model has not worked. It has let down the home helps, it has let down the home carers, it has let down the people who are dependent on their care and it is letting the taxpayers who are funding it down. It is not good value for money. It is only when one recognises that it is not good value for money that one will be able to make the necessary changes.

I will mention the case of two twin boys in my own area. They are wheelchair users. They are eight years of age. Their mother is at the end of her tether. She is desperate to get some assistance. I have tabled parliamentary questions on the issue. I have engaged with the HSE. They tell me simply that the staff are not there, but what do I say to their Mam? What do I say to her? She is at the end of her rope and all she needs is some of the most cost-effective, best value-for-money intervention that the health service can provide. That should not be beyond the Government. The Government has ignored the calls from the trade unions and the advocacy groups and now we find ourselves, yet again, in a crisis that was entirely avoidable.

I commend An Teachta Cullinane, not only for this motion but for all of the work that he is doing. I urge the Minister of State to take on board what is in this motion and the practical suggestions made.

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