Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We all understand the importance of the home care model for preserving people's dignity and giving them independence to live as long as they can in their own home, particularly those with additional care needs. We want to preserve people's independence and keep them out of the acute hospital system as long as possible. However, there is a crisis in the sector, as the Ministers of State acknowledged.

The first point to note is that people are living longer and their needs are becoming more complex as they age. We must acknowledge that as a problem within the system. However, we also know the remuneration on offer in the home care and home help sector is largely not attractive for most people.

Workforce planning can be chaotic, particularly in regional rural areas. As both Ministers of State know, people may have to travel 20 or 30 miles between care homes. When their hours are added up, the number of hours they have actually spent in the household giving care is small compared with the time spent travelling. There needs to be a pathway for recruitment and better job progression to try to attract people into the sector. I welcome the work the Ministers of State are doing in regard to the strategic advisory group and ICPOP and also mandating an increase in pay to €12.90 per hour and the payment of expenses. All of that is progressive but beyond that, we need something further. We need to be able to attract healthcare professionals into the sector. Perhaps we do not even need healthcare people. Community care is often given by people who are not qualified. They do it as part of an arrangement in families. In my case, our mother was cared for at home for two years under such an arrangement. We need to try to attract such people into the sector.

Should we ask the Minister for Finance to provide additional credits? For the money that is paid, there are middle-aged people who might be able to provide five, ten or 15 hours of home care in their own area but will not do so because they will pay tax. Some will end up outside a pension threshold. We need to do something. We must understand that younger people working in medicine will probably not choose to work in the home care model where they work in someone's home. They want to work in the dynamic working environment of a hospital or the community care centre where they can expand their abilities and progress. People who are middle-aged are happy where they are. They have finished their working life and would be happy to get involved. An initiative like that would be the best outcome from tonight.

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