Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Bacik for raising this important issue. We can all agree, on all sides of the House, how valuable home care is. Most important, it provides older people and younger people who need care with the dignity they deserve in life. Crucially, it enables people to get out of hospital quicker, which frees up beds for patients who need them and enables people to avoid going into nursing homes. The length of time people spend in nursing homes has gone down considerably in recent years precisely because home support has improved and people can stay at home for longer.

The overall budget for home support this year is €723 million. That is an increase of €228 million since this Government came to office, so nearly a 40% increase in funding for home care just under this Government. Far from being cut, the number of hours we will fund next year is 22 million, which is up from 21.5 million this year. The amount that is ring-fenced for dementia will increase from 5% in 2021 to 18% in 2024.

A new and improved HSE support tender for private and voluntary providers has been in place since August and is bringing about significant reform in the sector. An increased hourly rate is in place to ensure that home support workers are paid appropriately and to help deal with some of the issues affecting the waiting lists and recruitment and retention. This includes a new payment rate for travel time, requiring private and voluntary providers to pay the national living wage, at a minimum, and also reforming the legacy rate. On the number of people waiting on home care, the figure was 9,000 in 2020 when the Government came to office. At the moment, it is below 6,000.

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