Government must investigate gross home care profiteering
Government must investigate gross home care profiteering - The Labour Party
- Agency earning €18,650 per week from public funding to provide this care package while frontline nurses receive just €18.50 per hour
- Public money must guarantee safe, specialist care for people with disabilities rather than fund excessive agency margins
Labour TD for Wexford George Lawlor has called on Government to urgently investigate the delivery and oversight of home care supports for children with disabilities, after raising a deeply concerning case in Dáil Éireann yesterday that highlights serious risks to children and families and a lack of accountability for private agencies funded with public money.
Deputy Lawlor said:
“I was contacted by a woman in Wexford who has three children with disabilities and who depends on a home care package to meet their daily needs. That care was originally provided directly by the HSE before it moved to a private agency. Since then, she has seen a drastic fall in the quality of care delivered to her children. Nurses have arrived in her home who cannot carry out basic tasks such as turning on a bottle of oxygen or using a hoist. These are serious gaps that place children at risk and place enormous stress on families who already manage complex care needs every single day. It would appear that these nurses have been placed into situations that are clearly outside their level or area of expertise. These nurses are excellent in their own right but they do not have the specialist skills required in a home setting.
“When she raised these concerns, the response from the HSE was to pass the buck despite the fact that it manages the agency in question. It has also come to light that there is no governing body responsible for overseeing home care packages of this nature. This is a shocking gap in accountability. She has made constructive recommendations to improve the service but they have been ignored and responsibility has been deflected.
“What is truly scandalous is that this agency receives €18,650 per week to provide this care package. The nurses themselves receive €18.50 per hour while the agency receives €74 per hour per nurse. That means this single agency makes just shy of one million euro per year from providing care to this one family alone. Yet they do not pay nurses a proper wage and as a result they struggle to recruit staff who have the experience required for this specialist area.
“This case reflects a wider pattern that families across the country report every day. We see agencies make massive profits from public money while services deteriorate and oversight remains weak or non-existent. This is indicative of the deeper problems with the privatisation of care.
“Government must immediately investigate how these companies operate, what oversight exists, and whether public funding delivers safe and appropriate services for children with disabilities. Families deserve certainty that the support provided in their homes meets the highest clinical standards and that public money funds care, not excessive profit. We need proper regulation of home care packages now and we need it without delay.”