Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State quoted a lot of the facts and figures. She has secured €700 million in funding this year for home care. There is an unprecedented provision of hours. She also mentioned the statutory scheme of 24 million hours. I spoke about her revolutionising the sector and I think that will happen. Of course, we have to give this time to settle in. We have to look at the circumstances now. I appreciate the efforts that are being made in recruiting non-EU workers to take up those positions and clear the backlogs. That is very welcome. We have to look at workers within Ireland as well and consider why we are struggling to recruit staff and fill those positions. Do we need to look at the working conditions? These are incredible people in our community who love their work. They love doing what they do. They love the help and support they give people but clearly we do not seem to be doing enough to recruit people into that profession. It is certainly something that needs to be looked at. I am very heartened to hear of the efforts being made in recruiting non-EU workers into Ireland to clear that backlog. It is a very important step and something I hope will make a difference.

However, that is not to lose sight of the main reason I am raising this issue. As with the example I have given, it is for the family who want to be reunited with their loved one. They want to see him discharged from hospital for what they thought would have been a routine procedure but he has been in there since September. This is all about ensuring that those families are reunited and can be together in the home. I want the Minister of State to take that example and hopefully we can see a difference made for that family.

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