Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government commits to ‘Introduce a statutory scheme to support people to live in their own homes, which will provide equitable access to high-quality, regulated home care’. Work is ongoing within the Department to progress this commitment and is currently developing a regulatory framework for home-support providers with the aim of ensuring that all service-users are provided with high-quality care. This framework will comprise primary legislation for the licensing of providers, secondary legislation in the form of regulations (minimum requirements), and HIQA national standards.

On 27 April 2021, Government gave approval to the Minister for Health to draft a General Scheme and Heads of Bill to establish a licensing framework for home-support providers. The Heads of Bill are currently being drafted, and it is intended to bring this legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas at the earliest opportunity. A Regulatory Impact Analysis is being progressed by the Department to ensure effectiveness and mitigate risks.

In tandem to this, draft regulations setting out the minimum requirements a home support provider must meet to obtain a license are also at an advanced stage. The Department has completed a targeted stakeholder consultation which has amended the draft regulations further. This has been enhanced by regular discussions with HIQA, HSE, Provider and Service User representative groups and legal expertise assisting with legal text and interpretation of core issues, such as capacity legislation, employment laws and health and safety issues. A seven-week public consultation concluded on 4 August. The Institute of Public Health are analysing responses and a report on the findings of the public consultation is currently being prepared for the Department of Health. In addition to this, HIQA are in the process of developing standards for home care and home support services which will be the focus of a public consultation early next year.