Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with what Senator Darragh O'Brien said about the whole area of home care. I do not think we are putting enough emphasis on the need to provide adequate support to people who are in their homes. There is a huge saving in real terms to the State when people are cared for in their own homes. The cost of nursing home care to the State is very significant at the moment. We need to help the whole area of home care to grow. We met some people from the Carers' Association this morning. We are not even focusing on the whole area of training. It is extremely important that we debate this issue and highlight some of the deficiencies in this area. For instance, people are being asked to call to a house and spend half an hour there. I know a lady who had to walk four miles to do half an hour of work. She was paid for half an hour even though the amount of time in real terms was far more than that. We need to look at this whole area and make sure we have proper structures and training. Before Christmas, I published the Health (Professional Home Care) Bill 2014 to make sure we have careful home care plans. The Law Reform Commission recommended in 2011 that this should be placed on a statutory footing. I would be anxious for the draft Bill I published to be brought forward for debate. That would allow us to have a discussion on this whole area in the not-too-distant future. I ask for that to be considered at an early date.