Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is a crisis in home care that has been brewing for many years. We are now no country for older people. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are failing our older people. We have reports that there has been an increase of more than 10% in the number of older people on waiting lists for home care assistance, with figures of more than 6,000 this year. What is shocking is that almost 10% of all older people approved for home support have no carer. This is because past and current Governments have failed to plan. This lack of planning by the Government speaks to its priorities. People who have worked their entire lives are being left behind and let down badly. There are hundreds if not thousands more who have funding but only receive partial support that is far below what they and their family need. When we hear of our young people emigrating in record numbers, many of whom are healthcare professionals, can we really blame them when this is the future they can expect? We need a proactive strategic approach to workforce planning in health and social care. We must improve working conditions to help with the retention of staff.

There are knock-on effects. The lack of community care alternatives has left more than 7,000 people delayed in hospital, including more than 1,000 people who could have gone home earlier if they had a carer. In the midst of a hospital bed emergency, we have people in beds who should be at home and we have people on trolleys waiting on those beds. We can rectify this with proper home care delivery. Sinn Féin has a plan to fix this, as my party colleagues have outlined. We need a pay agreement for the sector and the Government needs to make sure this happens. The Government must advance vital regulation for the home care sector and should make this legislation a priority. We must also establish the promised commission on care to kick-start and modernise social care arrangements. Our communities deserve much greater public investment in the home care sector in the years ahead so they can get and receive the right care in the right place at the right time.

Something that really bothers me is the phrase "bed blockers". I hate when it comes up. A woman in her 70s contacted me to say she was told her husband was a bed blocker. He has been in hospital for a long time. He is unwell. In her words, he is looking to come home and die with dignity. He has not been allowed to do so because he has been told he is blocking beds. He is not blocking the beds. It is the system that is blocking the beds.

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