Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Michael Moynihan for raising this issue and I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly.

Improving access to home support is a priority for the Government. Since budget 2021, the Government has provided an additional €207 million in funding for home support to the Department of Health. This year, the overall home support budget will be more than €700 million. This will enable the HSE to progress the development of a reformed model of service delivery to underpin the statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home support services. It also will fund nearly 24 million hours of home support this year. The dementia-specific proportion of new home support hours will increase from 5% in 2021 to 15% in 2023. The delivery of a high-quality consistent home support service is a key priority for the Cork and Kerry community healthcare organisation, CHO 4, focusing on keeping people well in their homes and communities for as long as possible, in line with enhanced investment.

As of November 2022, the latest available preliminary data show in excess of €19 million hours of home support had been delivered nationally in the year to date. Within the CHO 4 area, the home support service delivered more than 2 million hours from January to November in 2022 to over 7,000 clients. At the end of November there were 56,429 people in receipt of this service nationally. There were 3,240 new applicants funded and waiting for supports while 2,819 people already were receiving supports, albeit not for the maximum hours advised. The HSE has advised us that as of the end of December, 109 people were awaiting home support in north Cork. There are strategic workforce challenges in this sector that have immediate and longer-term implications. Current difficulties in recruiting healthcare workers are already affecting the level of service provision. This has the potential to be exacerbated over time due to an aging demographic. The Government has commenced a number of initiatives to address these challenges. Last year, the Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for mental health and older people, Deputy Butler, established a strategic workforce advisory group to address the challenges of recruitment and retention of home carers and nursing home healthcare assistants. The Government has published its findings and the implementation of the advisory group's recommendations has commenced. Since January 2023, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler has also secured 1,000 employment permits, which will allow home care workers from non-EU and non-EEA countries the opportunity to work in Ireland. This is an immediate intervention to support the sector. In conjunction with wider sectoral reforms that are in train, implementation of the group's recommendations will have a real and lasting impact on addressing our workforce challenges.

The HSE has advised the Department of Health that more people than ever before are being referred for home care. Consequently, delivery of this service is not without its challenges. Cork-Kerry community healthcare is acutely aware that there are staff resource issues across both direct and indirect provision of home support in Cork and other areas. In order to bolster staff resources and reduce waiting times for the allocation of service, Cork-Kerry community healthcare advertises on an ongoing basis for health care support assistants throughout the region in an effort to recruit as many suitable candidates as possible. Approved private providers are also actively endeavouring to recruit additional staff resources. Given the nature of this role, this recruitment is normally conducted at a very local level and is ongoing across the region. The HSE has also advised that a good working relationship has been established between local hospitals and the community. Patients are regularly discharged directly home from acute settings with home support. Patients can also be offered a transitional care bed in a residential care facility until a carer can be assigned.

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