Pringle: Statutory home care scheme is another undelivered promise in Programme for Government
- Updated: 28th June 2024
Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, said it is unlikely that Government will introduce a statutory home care scheme, calling it one of many undelivered promises in the Programme for Government.
Addressing the Dáil on Thursday, Deputy Pringle said: “It is shocking that there is no statutory entitlement to receive formal home care in Ireland, nor is there even a regulatory framework for home care services.
“Despite the fact that in the 2020 Programme for Government and Sláintecare the Government committed to introducing a statutory home care scheme, it has yet to do so and although this is incredibly disappointing, it is hardly surprising.
“Given that we are coming to the end of this government’s term, it seems unlikely that such a scheme will be introduced now. It is yet another broken promise that this government has made and it would make you wonder how serious the intentions of the three government parties actually were in delivering the commitments they made at election time.
“The 2020 Programme for Government is nothing but a list of undelivered promises at this stage, many of which the government has either completely ignored or have actively u-turned on over the last four years,” he said.
The deputy was speaking on Thursday during Statements on Statutory Home Care.
Deputy Pringle said: “As we know, the majority of care provided in the home is undertaken informally by family members and others. In Donegal alone, there are currently almost 10,700 unpaid carers, which is 6% of the county’s population, compared to 5% in 2016.
“Similar to the rest of the country, females in the county are more likely to be carers than males, with 60% of all carers being female. As it currently stands, 8% of all females in Donegal are carers, compared to 5% of all males. As well as this there are 139 carers under 15 years of age providing regular unpaid care in Donegal.
“The period between 2016 and 2022 saw some notable increases in the hours of unpaid care provided. The number of carers in Donegal providing 43 or more hours of unpaid help each week almost doubled, from 1,688 in 2016 to 3,324 in 2022. This number has more than doubled nationally.”
“Almost two-thirds of carers were aged between 40 and 64 years and 15% were aged 65 years or over,” he said.
“Last August, nearly 6,000 people were on HSE waiting lists for new or additional home support and this need is anticipated to further increase due to Ireland’s ageing population.” he said.
The deputy said: “Our current reliance on family carers is unsustainable. They require much more support and recognition than they are currently given.”
Deputy Pringle said: “We should have home support services in this country that enable older people, and others, to continue living in their homes and that act as a support for people’s informal carers. Nursing homes are full of people who would be able to live in the community with proper support which would be a lot cheaper to deliver and would be a lot better for them and the quality of life that they would have as well.
“Everyone deserves to live a life with dignity. We should be supporting people to live at home, in their communities, providing proper home care, free at the point of delivery,” he said.
