Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Dooley for raising this issue which is raising its head all over the country. I have seen it in my constituency as well. As part of the broader Sláintecare reform of our health and social care system, the Government is committed to reorientating the model of care towards primary and community care. In furtherance of this objective, in budget 2021 my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, secured additional funding of €150 million for home support. This is supporting the development of a statutory home support scheme as well as the delivery of 5 million additional hours of home support. The funding secured in budget 2021 to provide the additional 5 million hours has been maintained for 2022 and preliminary data indicate that at the end of April 2022, some 6,902,191 home support hours had been delivered nationally to 54,949 people.

Against this background, the Minister of State is aware that some home support providers require their front-line employees to pay for the travel costs they incur in the course of their duties, and I thank Senator Dooley for raising the matter. While the HSE pays for the travel expenses incurred by healthcare support assistants whom they employ to provide home support, providers in the voluntary and private sectors do not always do so, nor is there any obligation for them to do so when contracted to provide services on behalf of the State by the HSE.

This is one of many issues currently being explored by the cross-departmental strategic workforce advisory group. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, established this group in March 2022 following a call for submissions from relevant stakeholders such as the Senator. The remit of the group is to identify and formulate recommendations to address strategic workforce challenges in the home support and nursing home sectors. Accordingly, the group is examining issues such as recruitment, retention, training, career development and pay and conditions of front-line carers in these sectors so that solutions can be found.

The group's deliberations will be informed by an evidence review of the role, function and supply of home support workers in four European countries, which has been commissioned by the Department of Health from the Health Research Board and which will provide insight into home support workers' employment conditions internationally. Stakeholder engagement is also central to the work of the group. As part of a structured programme of consultative engagements with key sectoral stakeholders, a facilitated workshop was held on 23 May. The group continues to liaise with these stakeholders to further explore the issues arising and will submit a report for my consideration by September 2022. The report will outline the group's findings and recommendations as well as an action plan for the recommendations' implementation.

Concurrently, the Department of Health is preparing a general scheme and heads of Bill to establish a licensing framework for professional home support providers. Secondary legislation setting out the minimum standards with which providers must comply in order to be licensed and HIQA national quality standards is also being developed. This will provide a robust regulatory framework for a sector which is at present unregulated, clarifying home support workers' rights and responsibilities. A public consultation on the draft minimum standards is under way and will close on 28 July 2022.

I think the Senator is looking for a stipend, effectively, for these great workers who are providing an incredible service. I would think the sooner we can come up with some solution, the better. Across the country we are all facing this. It is an issue we need to address as quickly as possible. It is not just a service these staff are providing but they are also saving a lot of extra hours in hospitals, nursing homes and so on. I would like to get this raised. I do not think Covid has helped. A lot of people have looked for other opportunities. We need to make sure this very important work is enhanced and continued.