Victor Boyhan warns of 'air code lottery' in home care waiting lists
Victor Boyhan criticised long home care waiting lists after a Home and Community Care Ireland report and urged urgent action. He described the report's findings as "a disgrace", highlighted 5,556 older people waiting at the end of 2024, and called for targeted resources and statutory monthly monitoring.
Report findings
The Home and Community Care Ireland report - issue number four on the home support waiting list for 2024 - shows 5,556 older people waiting nationally for home care at the end of 2024. Boyhan highlighted that waiting lists are five times greater outside of Dublin, with the highest lists in Cork and Kerry, zero in North County Dublin, and a 33% increase in Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo and Monaghan.
Call for legislative action
Boyhan said the findings are "a disgrace" and urged legislators to lobby and advocate together for the home care sector. He pressed for particular resources for the worst-affected areas and for a statutory list system that documents waiting-list data on a monthly basis so performance can be measured.
Acknowledgements and stakeholders
He acknowledged Avril Parra and the Irish Cancer Society for their work on cancer care and fundraising, and referenced Francis Fitzgerald's role leading Home and Community Care Ireland as mentioned in the report.
Recommended next steps
Boyhan urged everyone to read the HCCI report and to respond to the rising challenges by financing tangible arrangements, shortening waiting lists and building stronger community supports so older people can stay in their homes and communities.
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Thank you. Firstly, a leader and members, I just want to acknowledge that Avril Parra and our team from the Irish Cancer Society are here with us today, this morning doing their great work in promoting cancer care and supports and counselling and transport and all the multitude of services they give. So I just want to acknowledge that they're actually here on the ground engaging with us and of course making hopefully a few bob for the fundraising of cancer and also to acknowledge that Avril of course herself was a former senator here and is doing amazing work and I want to continue to wish her well in that and that ties me in really what the previous senator was saying and about cancer care. Many of you will be aware that there is an organisation called the Home and Community Care Ireland, indeed Francis Fitzgerald is now former MEP, former minister, former member of this House and in the Dáil is now key in leading the head of that organisation and yesterday they issued a report on the home support waiting list for 2024 issue number four so this was published in the last day or two and all members would have received a copy of it yesterday via email and I want to spend my time here today highlighting the HCCIS's new report on the home care waiting list because it is a disgrace what they have unveiled and we can talk here day and night in both houses about the needs to shorten lists the need to support people who need to stay in their homes and stay in their communities but unless we take tangible and make tangible efforts and arrangements and finance and supports and put them in place we're going nowhere and the book stops with us as legislators if we can't together lobby and advocate for this particular sector so home care waiting lists are five times greater outside of Dublin the report clearly shows and demonstrates the report reveals that there are five thousand five hundred and fifty six older people waiting nationally on home care at the end of 2024 when this report was completed for that period it highlights really what's really scary the highest waiting lists are in Cork and Kerry the lowest waiting lists are at zero in North County Dublin and the biggest increase plus 33 percent some of the previous report is in Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo and Monaghan that's scary stuff those are the waiting lists so the suggestion in this report is that it's an air code lottery for home care and it's persisting and it has to stop they're calling for let's look at the asks they're calling for waiting lists on average to be more than why are they more than five times higher and greater outside of Dublin so we need to ask the questions are there we need to put in particular resources for these particular areas that have been identified and we need a statutory list system that documents this data on a monthly basis because unless you measure this and keep an eye on it you're not going to go anywhere so i finish on this by saying i'd urge everyone to look at the report and i'd urge us to keep in mind we need to respond to the rising challenges of building better more caring and stronger supports in our communities for people that need it thanks
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