Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Averil Power and her team from the Irish Cancer Society are here with us today doing their great work in promoting cancer care, supports, counselling, transport and the multitude of services it provides. They are on here the ground engaging with us and, I hope, making a few bob. Ms Power is a former Senator and is doing amazing work. I wish her well in that.

This ties in with what Senator O'Loughlin said about cancer care. Many will be aware that there is an organisation called Home and Community Care Ireland. The former MEP, former Minister and former Member of this House and the Dáil, Frances Fitzgerald, is playing a key role as head of that organisation. It issued a report yesterday on issue No. 4 of the home support waiting list for 2024. It was published in the past day or two and all Members would have received a copy of it yesterday via email. I will spend my time highlighting HCCI's new report on the home care waiting lists because what it has unveiled is a disgrace. We can talk day and night in both Houses about the need to shorten lists and support people who have to stay in their homes and communities, but unless we make tangible efforts to put arrangements around finance and supports in place, we are going nowhere. The buck stops with us as legislators if we cannot lobby and advocate for this sector together.

The report clearly demonstrates that home care waiting lists are five times greater outside Dublin. It reveals that 5,556 older people were waiting nationally for home care at the end of 2024 when this report was completed for that period. It highlights something that is scary, namely, that the highest waiting lists were in Cork and Kerry while the lowest waiting lists, at 0, were in north County Dublin. The largest increase - up 43% on the previous report - was in Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo and Monaghan. This is scary stuff.

The report suggests that home care is an eircode lottery. It is persisting and must stop. Why are waiting lists more than five times higher outside Dublin? We need to put particular resources into the areas that have been identified and a statutory list system that documents this data on a monthly basis because unless we measure this and keep an eye on it, we will not go anywhere.

I urge everyone to look at the report and to keep in mind that we need to respond to the rising challenges of building better, more caring and stronger supports in our communities for people who need them.