Home care and home help services reach breaking point

D EP u T y Peter Fitzpatrick and the Regional Group of TDs have published their motion to be debated in the Dáil this Wednesday morning, calling on the Government to take immediate action, devise and implement a comprehensive plan to address the impending challenges posed by the steadily increasing population of individuals aged 65 years and over in the coming years.

“The motion highlights the critical state of home care and home help services”, says Deputy Fitzpatrick. It reveals that there is a severe shortage of carers, leaving vulnerable individuals without the necessary support.

As a result, many are confined to their beds and unable to access the funded homecare packages they desperately require. The waiting list for home support care at the end of March 2023 reached an alarming 6,432 individuals.

Deputy Fitzpatrick highlights that “Considering our ageing population, home support services are crucial in assisting older people and individuals with disabilities who wish to continue living at home or require support after hospital stays. However, without swift intervention from the Government, these essential services are at serious risk.

As a direct result of the chronic shortage of home help hours, there is significant delays in discharging patients from hospitals; particularly vulnerable older individuals; which is exacerbating the chaos within some healthcare facilities”.

Census statistics reveal that nearly 300,000 people cur- rently provide unpaid care, with 86,000 individuals dedicating 43 hours or more per week to caregiving. Regular breaks are essential for carers’ wellbeing, and the absence of respite services denies them the opportunity to prioritise their mental and physical health.

Deputy Fitzpatrick and the Regional Group TDs have issued a series of recommendations to the Government, urging them to:

1—Establish, through legislation, that every family carer is entitled to a minimum number of days of respite care per year.

2—Enable families to access direct funding for help and care outside regular hours, eliminating restrictions on private providers.

3—Amend the eligibility rules for Jobseeker’s Allowance so that the total amount of paid work in hours is considered rather than days, as the current system disincentivises engagement in parttime employment.

4—Increase the means test limits for the Carer’s Allowance and establish a high-level group to scope out and develop a roadmap for delivering a non-means tested participation income for family carers.

5—Increase the financial threshold for people on State benefits so that they can work and earn more money working in the homecare sector, and this helps with staff shortages while at the same time helping people gain more and have a better standard of living without being penalised by the State.

6—Ensure that all training for people engaging in the care industry is paid for by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to assist private providers in replacing staff who have moved to jobs within the HSE.

7—Ensure that remuneration for time spent travelling, motor travel expenses and pay when clients are in hospital is standardised for all healthcare employees.

8—Make industry and public sector trav- el expenses available to home care providers who offer services to older and vulnerable individuals in rural areas, promoting a balanced approach. Deputy Fitzpatrick and his colleagues in the Regional Group of TDs have expressed their disappointment with the Government’s continued failure to address the needs of older people, individuals with disabilities, their families, and caregivers, evidenced by its persistent delays in taking action.

Marie’s helping hand for parents

A MOTHER living in Dundalk has launched a new website aimed at parents of young children in Co Louth.

Originally from France, Marie Courcelle lives in Ath Lethan on the Racecourse Road with her partner Allan White and their twoyear-old son, Oscar.

“I’m French but I’ve been living in Ireland for 12 years. I came up with the idea for the Weekids.ie website when I had my baby,” said Marie.

“It started with the Covid-19 Pandemic. I was at home with a baby and there wasn’t much going on.

“I started working on Weekids.ie about three months ago and we launched the site on the

4th of June.”

Marie added: “It did take a bit of work and time. I’ve a full-time job and a young child at home.

“I work on it when I have some free minutes. My full-time job involves helping people to set up websites to sell or showcase their work.

“Weekids.ie started with a Whatsapp group for mothers and parents in the area. I check to see what suitable events are on locally such as activities or classes for kids”

She concluded: “The organisers of these activities are happy to share their information. We don’t have an app yet, it’s a website but it’s been optimised for mobile phones.

“I’ve had a lot of positive reaction from people since the launch of Weekids.ie. The day I launched the site had 160 visits. Two weeks after the launch it reached 1,000 visits.

“The purpose is to be useful to parents and to increase attendance at events for organisers of kids’ activities.

“If any organisers want to publish details of an event on Weekids.ie, they can do it through a chat button on the website. I’m really happy to do this.”

For more information please visit www. weekids.ie.

Ch E qu E p RESEN tAt ION O.N.E Du NDALK