Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. To reiterate, there is only one person waiting for funding approval in the CHO 2 area. That is what makes it so frustrating. Previously, the challenges we had were related to the number of people waiting for funding. In March of last year, 7,250 people were waiting for funding in the country. There are now only 1,400. Therefore, we have made huge strides. Efforts are ongoing to meet the demand for home support services. The HSE continues to advertise on an ongoing basis for healthcare assistants and recruit as many suitable candidates as possible. The HSE conducts its recruitment through a variety of channels.

The split between public and private provision is 50:50, but it varies depending on the CHO. On Tuesday of this week, I met representatives of Home and Community Care Ireland, which advocates for all the various groups, including Home Instead Senior Care and Bluebird Care. I am to speak at a conference in this regard at 12.30 p.m. today. Home care groups face huge recruitment challenges, as does the HSE.

We have agreed to set up a task force to examine the challenges. The Senator asked me whether the position is the same everywhere. It is not but rural areas are proving very difficult. There are many challenges in respect of private providers that do not offer mileage supports. That is also an issue.