Oireachtas committee to hear of 'acute' recruitment crisis in homecare services

Home and Community Care Ireland (HCCI), which represents private homecare providers, will say its members need to hire an extra 3,000 staff to cover the 24 million hours of homecare funded by the HSE for 2022. File photo: Pexels

Home care services are facing “the most acute recruitment crisis” in the history of the sector, the Oireachtas Health Committee will hear tomorrow.

A discussion on the state of home care packages will take place against a backdrop of lengthening waiting lists despite a significant funding boost for the sector during the pandemic. Over 500 people were waiting for a home care package, or for their hours to be increased, in Cork alone before Christmas.