David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support the amendment tabled by Deputy Shortall and agree with her points on health and social care services and workers. On Second Stage and on a number of other occasions, I have raised with the Minister the sectors which are still not regulated and which still will not be captured with this Bill. Home care is one of those. The Minister will appreciate the difficulties we have in getting staff to provide home help. It is one of those areas in respect of which one of the Ministers of State at the Department of Health has commissioned a report.

There are commitments to introduce a living wage, which is all well and good. However, we have to look at not only professionalising and, if necessary, regulating but also properly resourcing those areas in order to ensure we have, at the very least, parity of pay between those who provide the service, possibly through the private sector - and we need those organisations because we are highly dependent on them - and HSE staff. There are whole areas in home care, nursing homes and elsewhere where there are real difficulties attracting staff. Many of the people in these jobs are on low pay and are not properly represented. Having a health and social care advocate now in place will help. At least when it comes on stream, it will help in lobbying for and representing that really important area, which will enable us to deliver better community services, as we all want to do. Much more attention and a sense of urgency are needed from the Government in respect of the home help sector. I just wanted to make that broader point in the context of this amendment, which was tabled by Deputy Shortall and which I support.

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