Donegal TD Thomas Pringle has called for home care workers to be given guaranteed hours and paid at least the Living Wage, as well as travel time and mileage.
The Dáil is today hearing the Labour Party’s demands for an end to the recruitment ban and an increase in funding for Ireland’s healthcare service.
There are over 18,000 home carers in Ireland, but only 5,300 of these are directly employed by the HSE meaning the majority of carers are working in the private sector.
The two-tier approach has been described as unfair, where wages, terms and conditions are unequal
Deputy Pringle said: “The reality is that being a Health Care Support Assistant in this country doesn’t pay. Sadly, it’s a profession that isn’t worth pursuing due to the lack of contracted hours, the inadequate pay and the expectation to continuously engage in unpaid work and travel.
“Why would people leave their job or give up their social welfare payment for two hours of contracted work a week? This is the situation being faced by many home care workers today. Not only that, but they are expected to travel between homes without getting paid for travel time due to the fact that HSE-funded home care packages, which are subcontracted out to private companies, do not include travel time pay,” he said.
The deputy was speaking in support of the Labour motion re Home Care workers and the Home Support Service.
The deputy said: “I support this motion, and particularly its calls for the immediate reversal of the recruitment embargo on health workers and for a guarantee that home carers are paid, at a minimum, the new Living Wage rate of €14.80, payment for mileage expenses and travel time between care locations, as well as guaranteed hours and continuity of income for Health Care Support Assistants.”
Deputy Pringle said: “People in rural parts of the country are often in isolated areas with little access to facilities or assistance and are left most vulnerable when home care workers are not available. There is no doubt, as the motion says, that there is a postcode lottery when it comes to home care waiting lists, and there is evidence that those in rural areas wait longer due to a lack of mileage and travel costs for carers.
“I believe we should be providing full time or 50% contracts to ensure predictable income for home care workers, to ensure that it is an attractive job opportunity in the first place. I don’t see why there should be a problem in providing such contracts. The demand for home care workers is there, and should there be a situation where there aren’t enough hours to fill a contract, then workers could be given hours in the local community hospital as well.
“This is the type of integration that needs to happen for our health system to function. We can no longer rely on private contracts and the underpayment of health care workers,” he said.
Deputy Pringle said: “We know Ireland has a rapidly ageing population. Pressures on our healthcare system are only going to increase and we are already at breaking point. We need to make Ireland and our healthcare system not only an attractive place to work, but an actually viable place to work. Because as it stands right now it isn’t, and young people know this. The brain drain of health care workers to Australia is devastating to witness, but also understandable.
“We need to ensure that our home care workers are enabled to do more and that they are given the opportunity to have a predictable income and a decent life. They should, at the very least, be paid the Living Wage, as well as travel time and mileage. Home care workers do vital work in our communities every single day and they deserve to be valued and respected for that,” he said.
