Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

First, I thank the Labour Party for a most comprehensive and clearly thought out motion on the need to radically improve our home support service in order that those who avail of the service and those who provide the service can work together to ensure a much more sustainable and accessible service for all of those in our communities who need care. I am disappointed that the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and the Government could not see their way to supporting this motion or at least to not opposing it. I personally cannot find any proposal in this motion that is not needed urgently to support the home support service.

A cause of immediate concern is the need to reverse the recruitment embargo on health workers and the need for a commitment not to block the hiring of public service HCSAs. There seems to be some ambiguity as to the impact of this embargo but the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, assured us previously that there would be no cuts to the duration of home support hours and that is absolutely crucial because the time allocated for home support hours is already cut to the bone. There is absolutely nothing extra there to be cut back because what we often find is that there is 30 minutes to help people to get up, get dressed and get their breakfast. It is virtually impossible to manage, both for the person who needs the care and for the person who is giving the care. People need to be treated with respect and with dignity and very often it is a case of constant rushing, out of bed, into the bathroom etc. That is the reality of home care provision and what we need to see is an expansion of these services and not in any circumstances a diminution of these crucial supports. I, like others, fully support the call that home carers be paid at a minimum a living wage rate of €14.80 per hour with reasonable payment for mileage expenses and travel time between the care locations. As I said earlier, many home care support workers are jumping out of their cars, often in the rain, into somebody's house, trying to manage an hour's care work in a bare 30 minutes and running in and out again to another house and just moving on all of the time trying to support care work together with a little bit of human contact and that is just crucial for so many people. That kind of work is demanding and time consuming and it is hugely valuable work. It allows people to remain in their homes, to live independently, and crucially it supports family carers who literally keep the show on the road.

Finally, in that context I would like to mention that the carer of the year ceremony is taking place today in Sligo where the Sligo carer of the year will be acknowledged for the incredible and invaluable work they do. What we find is that home care support services and family carers together are both the foundation and the structure that allows people to live at home, in dignity, and in their own place.

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