The Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025, which was published today, falls short of addressing the issues facing the home care sector, according to Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice.
Deputy Rice said:
“I welcome today’s announcement on home care regulation after years of false starts. Regulation of home care has been a Programme for Government commitment since 2020, yet a regulatory framework has still not been legislated for.
“Despite today’s progress, it is disappointing that the proposed regulation appears to exclude children’s services – in February, I raised the need for children to be included with the Minister for Health in the Dáil, but that call has been ignored.
“The Ombudsman for Children, HIQA and a previous Oireachtas Health Committee have all recommended including paediatric home care in the new regulations – according to the Ombudsman, over 650 children with complex needs are in receipt of these vital services in their home.
“Why shouldn’t paediatric home care be subjected to the same level of scrutiny as older person’s home care?
“In terms of a statutory right to home care, it is deeply frustrating that we are still waiting for that scheme – eight years after the then-Minister for Health, Simon Harris, committed to introducing it. Since then, every target for the introduction of a statutory right to home care has been missed.
“We now hear very little from this government about the statutory scheme – the focus seems only to be on regulation. This is an approach that lacks ambition.
“While regulation is an important step on the road to a statutory scheme, it’s a far cry from delivering the radically different model of care that is so desperately needed – and was promised after Covid.
“The recruitment and retention of home care staff is also still a major issue, yet implementation of the remaining recommendations from the 2022 Strategic Workforce Advisory Group on Home Carers and Nursing Home Healthcare Assistants has effectively been put on ice.
“A progress report hasn’t been published since July 2024, at which point recommendations one, three and twelve (all related to recruitment) still hadn’t been implemented.
“Unless homecare becomes a viable career, with workers benefitting from good pay, reasonable terms and conditions and opportunities for career development, the sector will not be able to deliver the change needed.
“Ultimately, delivering a statutory right to home care must be a priority to ensure that older people are supported to remain in their homes, to reduce dependency on family and friends and, crucially, to end the State’s overreliance on institutional care.”
December 9th, 2025