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GOVERNMENT’S PLANS FOR STATUTORY HOME CARE SCHEME LIKENED TO ELUSIVE MYTHOLOGICAL ISLAND
Tuesday 17th June 2025, 14:09 pm
The interminable delays around the Statutory Home Care scheme have caused one Co. Meath Councillor to liken the proposed scheme to the mythological island of Hy Brasil, an elusive and mystical place that cannot be reached.
The scheme, first mooted in 2016 with implementation timelines in 2021, aims to provide a legal right to home care services for eligible individuals, mirroring the Fair Deal scheme for nursing homes.
Currently there isnolegal right to home care in Ireland.
Aontú Cllr Emer Tóibín says she is increasingly exasperated by the time it is taking to implement the scheme.
“This is frustrating and there appears to be little urgency whatsoever with this Government to actually do what was set in train almost a decade ago now. Then, almost five years ago, we were told it would be implemented but we’re still waiting.
As it stands, some 55,000 people in Ireland currently receive home support services through the HSE. But without a legal entitlement to home care, unlike the Fair Deal scheme for nursing homes, access remains uneven and uncertain.
Ireland is facing a demographic time bomb. The number of people over 65 is expected to double by 2051, and it's estimated that 1 in 3 of us will require nursing home care in the future. If we don’t act now to provide a robust and statutory home care system, the pressure on hospitals and long-term care facilities will become unsustainable.
Home care is not only more comfortable in the main for users , it is more cost-effective. Most older people want to live and be cared for at home. And yet, here we are, nearly a decade since the scheme was first promised in 2016, still waiting for legislation, still with workforce shortages, no coherent final funding model and ever-present moveable timelines.
We should be doing all we can to help people remain where they want to be-- that is in their own homes. This scheme is designed to ensure equitable access to high-quality, regulated home care services for those who wish to remain living at home. The scheme includes regulation of home care providers, a people centred model of care, and sustainable funding. The scheme is to promote a model of care that is flexible and tailored to the individual needs and preferences of the people who use it.
We in Aontú demand decisive action on this long-drawn out process. The elderly of Ireland, whether they are our parents or our grandparents, deserve nothing less than dignity, support, and the right to be cared for at home.
