Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is an absolute disgrace. These are people who need to be in hospital and need to be brought home to get proper care. We cannot, and should never, use the term, but that is what is happening. These people need dignity and need to be approved further care. When will we see the implementation plan to enact the cross-departmental strategic workforce report? Can we see some urgency on this, given the chronic recruitment crisis? When can we expect delivery of the enhanced community care programme? I heard the Minister of State say that there will be a meeting around 29 June. I very much appreciate that, but I am not asking when the meeting will take place; I am asking when we are going to have the delivery of the implementation of the programme.

Waiting lists for carers are 25% longer in rural areas, so I am delighted both Ministers of State are here. In my constituency, there is an 89-year-old lady who is caring for her 59-year-old son who has profound special needs. She cannot get home care. She depends on her daughter to drive 35 km to help her with him when the daughter comes home from work in the evenings. How can we ever justify leaving an 89-year-old woman with her 52-year-old son with intellectual difficulties who needs specialist care? She cannot get the care. I think it is an absolute disgrace. It is a pure failure of this system.

The Minister of State spoke about a personalised budget. A personalised budget is not going to help here. Home carers deserve a living wage and mileage allowances in rural areas, given weekly incomes, especially if they are losing income when a client is hospitalised and funding is stopped. We need reforms to social welfare rules to calculate hours worked, not days worked, to protect social welfare entitlements. It is vital that this happens.

It is past time the Government acted to resolve the crisis in home care. We are asking it to prevent our elderly from suffering now. It is vital that it is done to prevent the crisis from escalating. I have met the Minister of State on several occasions. She has always been very approachable and has always answered anything I asked, but I am absolutely asking that something is done around this. We cannot have people without care.

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