Paul Murphy decries delays on statutory home care for older people
Paul Murphy criticised government delays in implementing a statutory right to home care, arguing older people are being effectively abandoned by a for-profit system. He urged a statutory entitlement to home care, free at the point of use and funded through general progressive taxation.
Main argument
He said how a society treats and takes care of its older people says a lot about its values. Care work is massively undervalued, under offered and often delivered on a for-profit basis with high levels of exploitation, he said, leaving many older people effectively abandoned by the state or compelled into nursing homes they do not want.
Policy history and delays
He noted the commitment dates back to the 2016 programme for government and was originally targeted for implementation in 2021. He recalled a 2020 claim by the then minister for health that a scheme was nearly ready and cited a written question from the former Taoiseach a week earlier asking for assurance the general scheme would be published in 2024, arguing progress has been slow.
Funding and resources
He described the choice not to deliver as political, pointing out the state will run a surplus of 65 billion euros over coming years. He said funding has rarely been mentioned in recent years, funding options have not been developed, and the statutory entitlement must be prioritised and backed with sufficient resources.
Impact on carers and older people
He highlighted the unpaid burden on families, citing an estimated billion hours of care work a year that saves the state two billion euros. He referenced Family Carers Ireland figures that 74% of those surveyed report the people they support do not receive sufficient formal support and warned the issue will worsen as the population ages.
Call for statutory entitlement
He reiterated the clear solution is a statutory right to home care - appropriate home care, free at the point of use and paid for through general progressive taxation - and warned that at the current pace the scheme risks not being implemented in this or the next government.
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I think how a society treats and takes care of its older people says a lot about the values of that society and the way that older people are currently treated does not reflect well on the basic values that underpin our current for-profit capitalist society. It's a society and an economy where care work is massively undervalued, under offered, under provided, and where it is provided is done so on, as Gino outlined, a for-profit basis, often with very high levels of exploitation of those who are providing it. These are older people who, in most cases, have worked their entire life, have produced a huge amount of wealth, have paid taxes, and now find themselves effectively abandoned by the state, or they're effectively compelled to go into nursing homes when it is not the most appropriate thing for them, it's not the thing that they want to do, where a huge burden is placed on their families, obviously families want to do everything they possibly can to care for their elderly relatives, but, like, huge pressure, huge amount of unpaid labour taking place, a billion hours of care work a year in our society, saving the state two billion euros, and, and not treated with the respect that they deserve, I mean, the answer here is very, very simple, it's been recognised by the government previously, and it is to have a statutory right to home care, to say that, as a society, we're going to provide appropriate home care, free at the point of use, paid for through general progressive taxation. It is a political choice not to do that, we live in a wealthy society, we have a surplus over the coming years of 65 billion euros, and yet, what we've seen, it's been outlined in this debate, is just delay after delay after delay. In development, this scheme, since the 2016 programme for government, originally targeted for implementation in 2021, and yet here we are in June 2024, with little progress. In 2020, the then Minister for Health, Simon Harris, claimed we have a scheme nearly ready, and a new government, whoever the Minister for Health may be, should be in a position to bring that forward quite quickly. I noted that there was a written question from the former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, just about a week ago, asking for an assurance that the general scheme for statutory home care scheme be published in 2024, the reason progress has been slow in the past two years. This man was Taoiseach for the past two years, so he presumably should know why progress has been slow. If the scheme continues at its current pace, never mind not being implemented in this government, it won't be implemented within the next government either. So it must be prioritised and must be backed with sufficient resources. Initially, the statutory entitlement to home care was at the very core of what the government would talk about, but now it's often not mentioned in government contributions in the Oireachtas. Funding has been rarely mentioned in the last four years, and funding options have not been developed. And the consequence is, the picture that we see, the effect of abandonment of many older people. Family Carers Ireland say that 74% of those surveyed report that the individuals they support do not receive sufficient formal support, and we obviously know that we're heading to a situation with more and more older people, so we need to resolve this urgently. Thank you. Thank you.
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