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

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. The Government is committed to the development of improved community-based services, shifting care to the home and offering greater choice for older people. In budget 2021 the Government allocated additional funding of €150 million for home support to progress the development of a reformed model of service delivery to underpin the statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home support services and to provide 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. In 2021 some 20.4 million hours were provided to over 55,000 people, around 2.9 million more hours compared to 2020, which represents an increase of 17%. In 2022, our aim is to provide 23.67 million hours of home support. At the end of May preliminary data showed that 55,392 people were receiving home support, and over 8.7 million hours of home support have been delivered this year to date, around 9% more hours than was provided for the same period last year. The preliminary data also show that significant inroads have been achieved in reducing waiting lists for funding approval for new or additional services, from over 7,800 in January 2020 to 348 in May 2022. This reduction has been achieved through a combination of validation of the waiting list and availability of additional funding to address those waiting.

However, there can be a lag between funding approval and the actual delivery of home support hours. Certain geographical areas that are experiencing increased pressures due to staff availability are particularly affected. At the end of May 4,720 people who had been assessed and approved for home support were waiting for a carer to be assigned to them. In January 2020, approximately 1,300 people were in this category. Despite the increase, it is important to note that the total number of people waiting for home support across both categories has reduced from over 9,000 at the start of 2020 to 5,068 at the end of May 2022.

The Government is very aware of the strategic workforce challenges in the home support and nursing home sector. I see it on the ground, as does the Senator. That is why he is raising this issue. The HSE continues to advertise on an ongoing basis throughout the region for health care support assistants and to recruit as many suitable candidates as possible. Due to the nature of the role, this recruitment is normally conducted at a very local level. In her ongoing engagements with the chief officers, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has recommended that they consider a renewed focus in advertising these positions locally. In addition, approved private home support providers continue to recruit home support workers. The Minister of State has established a cross-departmental strategic workforce advisory group to examine issues such as recruitment, retention, training, pay and conditions, and the career development of front-line carers in home support and nursing homes. I am working with the Minister of State on the issue. She is very much on top of it and is working extremely hard to resolve the issue.

Ensuring an adequate supply of appropriately skilled healthcare support assistants and healthcare assistants is a key objective of the advisory group initiative. The group has met five times since March and is currently working with key sectoral stakeholders in a structured programme of ongoing consultative engagements to further explore the issues and identify approaches to respond to the strategic workforce challenges. The group provides a forum for agreement on strategic approaches to address sectoral workforce challenges and will submit a report for the Minister of State's consideration by September 2022. The report will outline the group's key findings and recommendations.