Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-23
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Kieran O'Donnell (FG), Limerick City

I thank the Senator for his contribution and collaborative approach. Home support hours are a key priority for me and the Government. I want to bring the numbers down. They are coming down, but not at the rate I would like. The key element here is that we need to recruit more staff within the HSE. As I said, another 257 are funded and that work is under way.
I have regular meetings with the HSE, along with my officials, specifically around delivering home support. Some areas of the country are different from others. There is no homogeneous outline. Above anything else, home support will, dare I say it, be a key element of the statutory home care scheme and its operation. We have to increase the number of people in the area. It is a considerable body of work.
The Senator made reference to the word "pathway". We have a pathway, which includes the home support providers Bill and adult safeguarding legislation in the health and social care sector. There will then be the roll-out of the regulation. We will then move into the whole area of statutory home care itself. It is about ensuring that we have that momentum. The day-to-day activity is about people availing of home support hours. That is, and continues to be, an absolute priority for me and the Government.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-23