Irish Examiner view: Home care recommendations should get urgent attention

Concerns have been voiced about the number of older people waiting for homecare services

Some 5,405 people were waiting to be assigned a carer in February, up from 4,806 a year earlier. Picture: iStock

The rise in the number of elderly people waiting for homecare services, up 13% in a year, is worrying. Some 5,405 people were waiting to be assigned a carer in February, up from 4,806 a year earlier.

Such a significant increase is of particular concern because of the reason for it. The HSE’s head of service for older people, Kathleen Jordan, said that no one on the list was waiting for funding to be allocated; they were waiting because there is a shortage of carers. That shortage is set to worsen in the coming years; our population is ageing, and as the proportion of people over the age of 65 increases, so too does the number of people requiring some form of care.

There can be little debate about the value of the home care service to society and to individuals. It helps tens of thousands of people to continue to live, relatively independently, in their own homes, when many might otherwise have to move into nursing homes.

The service users, and their families, take comfort from knowing a professional carer will come into the home at least once a day to assist, where needed, with such matters as dressing, bathing, and medications. The biggest comfort, of course, is often the appearance of a friendly face, regularly checking in and having a chat with a person who is housebound. The majority of people want to stay in the familiar surroundings of their homes with their familiar routines, even as infirmities make it difficult to do so; an hour or two a day of help at home may be all it takes to facilitate this.

From the State’s perspective, it makes financial sense. It costs far more to fund a person in a nursing home, or, as is sometimes the case, in a hospital bed, than it does to support them at home. The value has been recognised by Government which has made has made vastly increased provision for care in the home in recent budgets; in 2020, the HSE provided €17.8m of home care, and in 2026, the target is €26.7m.

The problem of attracting and retaining the people without whom there would be no homecare is a pressing one. 

The body representing independent homecare providers, Home and Community Care Ireland (HCCI), made a number of recommendations for addressing that very problem in its pre-budget submission last year. Among these was a call for a funding level that would improve pay rates for carers. 

The body also recommended that the Government guarantee continuity of income for home care workers, introduce a registration system for home care workers to regulate the profession, fund mileage payments, and develop a home care workforce strategy.

Urgent consideration must be given to these recommendations, and to any other strategies for maintaining and improving this vital service. If the issue is not addressed, those waiting lists are going to get a lot longer.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Weddings and Communions

It is that time of the year again; the season for disapproving tales about extravagant First Communion celebrations, lavish parties, eye-wateringly expensive outfits, and latest ‘must have’ entertainments. If we thought that the financial crash of 2008 had put paid to such Celtic Tiger-standard splurges, we were wrong: the sobering effect was only temporary.

The mini-wedding style Communion parties, and the mega, multi-event, three-day actual weddings are back, bigger, and more elaborate than ever.

Their return has prompted the usual chorus of tut-tutting about frivolity and waste. Yet, in many respects, such criticism is misplaced. If people choose to spend large sums of their hard-earned money celebrating what are important milestones for children and adults, they are perfectly entitled to do so.

These celebrations also provide a significant boost to local economies. The hotels, restaurants, and other venues are obvious beneficiaries, but so too are the food suppliers, wait staff, musicians, hairdressers, make-up artists, florists, bouncy castle suppliers, boutiques, dressmakers, pubs, photographers and countless others whose livelihoods depend, at least in part, on our appetite for celebration.

The difficulty arises when the lavish celebrations begin to feel less like a choice and more like an expectation. Not everyone can afford these gala events, but many will feel compelled to keep up with what they see around them. After all, what parent wants to deprive their child of the kind of celebration they see others enjoying? And what couple doesn’t want to put on a good show for their family and friends on their big occasion?

The showy celebrations are fine for people who have that kind of money to spare. But perhaps we should pause before normalising the idea of spending the equivalent of a house deposit on a wedding. Let us hope that it will not take another economic crash to restore a bit of perspective.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Drug-related intimidation

The recent revelation that hundreds, if not thousands, of families in towns and villages across the country are being subjected to drug-related intimidation is chilling. The problem ranges from threats and violence against individuals and their families to targets being coerced into holding drugs, weapons, or money, and carrying out violent crimes.

The insights come from a report, launched last week, by the Drug Related Intimidation and Violence Engagement (Drive) project. It paints a grim picture of the terror experienced by families who have found themselves at the mercy of drug criminals, often because of drug debts.

The project recorded more than 1,000 cases in 2024 and 2025, and noted that up to 90% of victims did not report their experience to gardaí because of fear of reprisals, proximity to intimidators, stigma, and limited awareness of support.

Some 40% of victims of this intimidation borrow from family and friends to pay their drug debts, but money is sometimes not sufficient for people to break free of their tormentors. Some 10% are forced into committing crimes, such as holding drugs and weapons, or carrying out kidnappings, or are sexually exploited, or have their homes taken over by drug dealers.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

One particularly grim aspect of the findings is the persistence of the intimidation, with one in seven victims saying that their experience of intimidation lasted more than three years — a long time to be living in terror. The purpose of the Drive project, funded by the Department of Health, is to counter the scourge of drug-related intimidation.

To this end, it has already trained more than 800 people to offer support to people affected, and is now calling for strengthened support for victims, enhanced prevention, and community-level interventions. The people, which include 40 children, who have found themselves unwittingly or otherwise entangled with these menacing criminals, deserve help to escape the criminals’ clutches. The Drive project should get the resources it requires to assist them.