Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach's response did not address the crucial issues. I will spell them out. The crucial issues, which are evidenced in the Government's and the HSE's figures, include, first, the lack of healthcare workers. There are simply not enough healthcare workers to meet the need. The second crucial issue is the number of people who are awaiting care, having been assessed for home-care supports, and simply cannot access it because of the lack of workers. The third is poor pay and conditions across the healthcare sector. Notwithstanding the new tender, the Ministers of State at the Department of Health, Deputies Butler and Rabbitte, in response to our motion, admitted what we all know to be the case, namely, that we cannot be sure that the new rate of €13.10 per hour, basic though it is, is being passed on in the private sector. The truth is we have seen a creeping privatisation of home-care services. That is having a knock-on effect on recruitment and retention. It means we simply do not have enough home-care workers to meet the crucial demand for older persons, persons who are awaiting discharge from hospital and persons who desperately need care in their homes to be able to live with dignity into older age in a way we would all wish to do. The Taoiseach has not addressed those crucial issues.

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