Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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587. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to ensure that an adequate number of healthcare assistants can be sourced here or within the EEA; if he is satisfied that pay, conditions and training here for home care staff are sufficient in order to ensure that an adequate number of healthcare assistants can be sourced here or within the EEA to meet the growing demand for home care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46048/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government (2020) commits to the introduction of a statutory scheme to support people to live in their own homes, which will provide equitable access to high-quality, regulated home care. In this regard, the Department is in the process of developing a statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home-support. It is intended that the new scheme will provide equitable and transparent access to high-quality services based on a person’s assessed care-needs.

The HSE has operational responsibility for planning, managing, and delivering home support services for older people and people with a disability at national, regional and local levels. Services are delivered either directly by HSE employed staff, or on its behalf by a combination of private and ‘Section 39’ organisations (i.e. voluntary/not-for-profit) providers who operate under service level agreements with the HSE. There are also many home support users who self-fund entirely or self-fund additional support above the support provided via the HSE. There has been sustained investment in home-support services in recent years, with approximately €630 million allocated in the National Service Plan 2021 to provide 24 million hours of home support.

In the public sector any amendments to pay are carried out in line with the current public service agreement for those working in relevant agencies. It would not be appropriate for the Minister to comment directly on the terms and conditions of those working in Section 39 or other privately operated services. Privately operated services are responsible for recruiting, setting and managing the terms and conditions of employment of their staff, having regard to employment legislation.