Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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792. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware of the call from Home and Community Care Ireland, HCCI, to ensure that the new home care tender 2023 is not delayed again; if he will fulfil the HCCI request for an urgent meeting with Minsters (details supplied); if the HSE will agree funding for a new rate on tender 2023 that reflects increased costs of care and that allows home care staff to receive a living wage, travel time and mileage costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24422/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The 2018 Tender Framework for the provision of home support services was initially valid for the period 01 September 2018 to 31 December 2020. The HSE extended the framework by two 12-month extensions, to 31 December 2022. This was further extended by the HSE at the end of 2022, initially to the end of April 2023. The HSE has proposed a further extension of the contract arrangements to Friday 30th of June, to allow time to finalise tender arrangements.

The process of developing the new tender is at an advanced stage. Officials in the Department of Health are engaging at a senior level with the HSE and the HSE has ongoing engagements with home care providers to progress the new tender. No final decisions on the tender content have been reached. As a strict communication protocol applies in all phases of the procurement process it is not possible to arrange a meeting while the process is ongoing.

In order to examine the significant workforce challenges in the home-support and nursing home sectors in Ireland, Minister Butler established the cross-departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group in March 2022. Working closely with key stakeholders, the Advisory Group made 16 recommendations to address the challenges in frontline carer roles in the home support and long-term residential care sectors, including recommendations concerning the living wage and travel time. Progression of these particular recommendations are linked to the outcome of the Tender 2023 process.

Minister Butler has endorsed the Advisory Group’s recommendations. Implementation of the recommendations will be overseen by a cross departmental Implementation Group, chaired by the Department of Health. The Department is engaging with recommendation owners to define an implementation plan. A detailed implementation plan will be published containing steps involved in delivering the recommendations in the coming months. It is envisaged that the implementation group will meet quarterly and publish progress reports thereafter.