Charles Ward
Donegal · 100% RDR · Ireland
“I thank Deputy Kenny for bringing forward this motion. As a parent, I have seen the costs relating to sending children to school skyrocket over the past ten years. The situation is absolutely out of control.”
“Uniforms are supposed to represent equality, but they have become another financial burden on families who are already struggling with a cost-of-living crisis that has been going on for a very long time.”
“Those who were previously on particular school bus routes no longer have the option of using those routes. As a result, parents are forced to engage in long commutes and to cover the costs incurred in this regard. I welcome the motion.”
“She did not receive the substantial person-centred supports she desperately needed to rebuild her life. Support has to be extended beyond crisis intervention.”
“Domestic abuse is increasing and becoming more and more complex. I spoke in depth with Jessica Gallagher, who is clinical director of the Uplift Project. She works alongside women who are affected by domestic abuse, coercive control and sexual violence in Donegal. She said that demand for the service demonstrates the scale of unmet need.”
“I welcome Jennie's law. The publicly available register of judgments will be a life-saving resource, as people in relationships or considering relationships will be able to see whether people have histories of domestic violence convictions.”
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“A reduction in the licence fee would be a practical measure to help sustain the fisheries while having minimal fiscal impact and sustaining a tradition that goes back many a generation. The special local drift net licence fee should be reduced before a 2026 season, in line with the ordinary drift net licence and in recognition of fewer fishing opportunities and a shorter season to apply to the estuary. I would be grateful if the Minister of State would come back to me regarding that. We need to support our fishers and the industry as a whole, and do the best we can. It takes an entire community to build a successful fishing industry, and entire communities will suffer as a result of its decline. The Government has to stand up. What is going on is a decline in the fishing industry up and down the country.”
“Eight weeks of work is hardly what you would call a sustainable job. These are fishermen on some of the biggest trawlers in the country. Traditional small-scale fisheries are experiencing even more difficulty. They have significant cultural, social and community importance and must be supported financially. There is a very real need to reduce the special local draft net licence duty for Loughros estuary. I ask the Minister of State to please consider this. At present, a special local draft net licence is priced at €545, which €147 more than the cost of an ordinary drift net licence, despite a significantly shorter season and more limited fishing opportunities on the estuary.”
“Will the Government and public representatives truly stand up and fight for the fishing industry? We have to stand up and fight. We have constituents up and down the land depending on us. Right now, we are not providing them with any cover for the future. The fishing industry is dying. Every single week it loses people. They are leaving. The Government cannot talk its way out of this, no matter how many debates we have on this issue. I want to bring this back to the fishing communities. Fishing communities are the heart of the debate, particularly in Donegal. These are the people impacted the most. I can confirm there is at least one trawler in Killybegs that finished up for the season last week. It finished up in mid-February. The boat is now tied up for the rest of the year. The fishermen are without work until the end of the year.”
“The Government keeps trying to operate within a framework that has never been designed with our interests in mind. It is a fact that we are at a disadvantage and are trying to please Europe above our own needs. It is clear that the policy holds us back, yet there seems to be no appetite to ensure this outdated policy is updated and our position is renegotiated. Instead, the Government keeps us trying to work within an unbalanced system that is meant to work for us but actually works against us. We need to wake up to this. We need to make sure we take accountability. The Government claims our fishing rights have been taken from us as if we are powerless. We are not powerless; we have surrendered those rights. We continue to take a weak negotiation stance. We cannot continue to do that. We must stand up and take back our waters.”
“Today's vessels from EU states as well as fleets from the southern hemisphere can fish bluefin tuna in our waters while Irish fishermen are forced to observe because Europe has not allowed us to access this stock. French and British vessels continue to fish for seabass on our doorstep while we have not been able to do this since the 1990s. The recent mackerel quota assigned to Irish fisheries represents yet another blatant injustice for our industry, as countries such as Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and the UK have agreed a 40% higher allowance catch than the member states. Not only are countries not being penalised for overfishing, they are actually being rewarded for it. No matter how often we present these facts, they never fail to shock because it keeps getting worse. Our industry is clearly in decline.”
“In 2021, the Faroe Islands and Norway raised their mackerel quotas without agreement from the EU, despite the fact that Ireland is most reliant on mackerel. In 2020, following the Brexit trade co-operation agreement, 40% of the total value of the European quotas were transferred to the UK from Ireland. We let Europe sell this on our behalf. This is clear evidence that Ireland's negotiating power in this was incredibly weak. These are marine resources and they are worth a lot more than what we have given away. In 2024, the UK signed an agreement with Norway and the Faroe Islands, dividing 70% of the mackerel between them, again, without involving the EU. We can see a pattern emerging.”
“This poisoned chalice has been given to him through decades of neglect by Government of the fishing industry. There is no doubt Government has allowed this decline to happen. It has been happening for generations. I have seen it where I am from - Árainn Mhór island - where my family fished. We had Burtonport, a thriving port that is now a ghost town. We allow other countries to do what they like and get away with it. There is no equality here. It is unbelievable when it is laid out. In 2010, Iceland and the Faroe Islands increased their mackerel quotas without consulting the countries which had shared interest in these stocks. In 2013, the Faroe Islands that increased its allowance of herring by 229%.”
“I stand before the Minister of State again. I have raised this countless times with industry representatives and every week at the fisheries committee along with all of my colleagues from Donegal. This is the time for action. We all know the issues in the fishing industry and what we need to do to address them but the issue is will. There is no will from the Government regarding this. There is an absence of will and we are left with this debate - a fruitless attempt by the Government to demonstrate to the public that we are addressing the issue when, in fact, we gave up on the fishing industry decades ago. This is not a criticism of the Minister of State. He is genuinely doing his best, along with his staff. It is clear he cares about this industry. However, he has been given a poisoned chalice.”
“The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, recognised this and the individual consideration for each county when establishing surgical hubs. Will the Taoiseach please ensure diabetes care in Donegal will be given the same separate and equal consideration?”
“The HSE health regions were established to improve hospital and community healthcare services, empower local decision-making and support population-based service planning. I support this completely but I am concerned about the centralisation this may cause within the regions themselves. The north-west region often has to compete and fight over the same limited resources as we did during the hospital hub situation. Letterkenny desperately needs a diabetes integrated practice unit. Donegal, under the criteria, warrants its own paediatric endocrinologist - a full team in Letterkenny. Sharing resources with Sligo is not sufficient. Both counties have service demands and their staffing shortages are demographically different.”
“It is about creating a fair, clear framework where employees and employers can engage constructively. I urge all members of Dáil Éireann to push this because they have to go back to their constituents and when they are telling them about their work-life balance, we have a responsibility to try to improve their work-life balance.”
“Making sure this work-life balance is in place is vital, but it is also vital to ensure that rural communities thrive. At the moment, without this being brought in and coming to pass, these communities are dwindling. For Donegal, the benefits are clear. Remote working reduces commuting costs. It supports families with their responsibilities and retains skilled workers. They need flexibility for arrangements that are made, particularly with the situation we have in Donegal with the defective concrete crisis. Many households have been displaced and forced to leave their homes due to structural defects. They are balancing their work with inspections and repairs in their homes. Remote work allows them to do this and remain employed while managing these disruptions to their lives. Supporting this Bill is not about limiting employers.”
“I thank Deputy Lawlor for bringing forward the Bill. We Donegal TDs are geographically isolated and, as some Deputies have said, when it comes to working, people think living in Donegal is akin to being in a different country. Remote working in Donegal does work, has worked and will continue to work, and I believe this Bill will enhance that. When we talk about practical experiences, we are talking about people who travel from Inishowen into Letterkenny. They might leave nearly an hour to go out and have an hour's drive to come back in the evening. Then, when they come home, they have to take their kids to their activities. This is adding up every single day with the likes of soccer and GAA, but no matter what, these activities have to happen to allow the communities to thrive.”
“Parents are locked out of their own communities, children are forced to leave their communities and families are living in uncertainty. Housing is a right; it is not a commodity. Policy must protect people, and not investors. This is not about markets or profit margins: it is about mothers, fathers, sons and daughters whose homes and futures are being sold to the highest bidder. If we cannot protect them, we are failing, the Government is failing and society is failing. The Government is talking about regeneration. We need action, not regeneration. We need action now.”
“I thank Sinn Féin and Deputy Doherty for bringing forward this motion, which I fully support. The Government says that investing in funds helps to increase supply, but that is false. In Donegal, thousands of homes have already been removed from the market because of defective concrete. Families cannot sell. Young people cannot buy. Normal movement has collapsed. To allow these homes to be treated as financial assets is not just wrong; it is immoral. This is not just a local problem. When investors actively push prices up across the country, it makes homes harder to buy and it forces people into already stretched rental markets. The evidence is clear that buying homes for profit does not solve the crisis; it actually makes the crisis worse. The human cost is obvious.”
“If we are dealing with 32% of schools affected in the long run, what will that be next year and the year after? We have to make sure we are looking after children with primary needs and their care.”
“I understand what the Taoiseach is saying around the allocations and deployment but in Donegal, it is not practical. For example, if in Donegal you are deployed to somewhere within a certain radius, there are no spaces available. That will not help, and within these schools, these children will be left without the rapport or the relationship they have built up over the years with the SNA who was there to help them. These children in this school are not going out anywhere over the next couple years; they will still be there. There are primary care needs here and they have still been cut. I ask the Taoiseach to review this school in Donegal town because we can see there is definitely something wrong. According to his own figures, 32% of schools are affected.”
“I am asking the Taoiseach to intervene, that the 2.5 SNA cuts for this school in Donegal town be stopped and that the review and the process be looked at so that no child is left behind and that they can be educated within their communities.”
“The SENO may technically instruct schools to open classes but the practical reality for schools is they cannot meet the children's needs and they cannot provide essential care. This is not a threat. This is the reality that is going on on the ground. Children's safety, education and well-being are now at risk. These cuts undermine the inclusion and breach the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Ireland has signed up to. I call for an urgent review, particularly of Scoil Aodh Rua agus Nuala in Donegal town because it is in a desperate situation and this review needs to be stopped and revisited immediately.”
“The reduction sometimes is appropriate. I acknowledge that but this is not one of those times. Research shows best practice in law and that children with complex needs thrive in a stable, predictable and delivered educational environment within their own communities. The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, ESPEN, Act 2004 guarantees that every child is entitled to appropriate education. Cutting essential supports is harmful and contrary to law. I have written urgently to all the Ministers and the relevant agencies seeking an intervention in this. The reality is stark. If these cuts continue, schools will not be able to safely manage special needs classes.”
“Children with the most complex needs in Donegal are losing essential support under the NESC's reviewed special needs assistants, SNA, review process and it comes at a real human cost. I personally reviewed the situation at Scoil Aodh Rua agus Nuala in Donegal town and what is going on there. There are children who rely on SNA supports to eat, to move and to communicate. These are their primary care needs and yet 2.5 SNAs are being cut from this school next September. It is far too much for this school to manage. If SNAs are treated as part of the general allocation, the school is forced to choose who loses support - children with special classes or children in mainstream classes with complex needs. Either way, inclusion fails and the children are forced out of their communities into special needs schools.”
“Raphoe is facing an immediate escalating flood risk and a very serious danger to life. During heavy rainfall, floodwater runs from the hill down into Frank McBrearty's property, then onward towards Irish Street heading downhill and then finishes up at Andrew Hunter's property. There is a 10 ft. hole underneath and it floods into a field in Magherahaan. I understand that the flood prevention works for Raphoe have already been approved and funding is available, yet no works have been commenced and funding has not yet been drawn down. This is leaving Raphoe in a precarious position. It is unacceptable. Will the Government now intervene to ensure flood prevention works in Raphoe proceed as a matter of urgency? Will the Tánaiste indicate a clear timeline for delivery?”
“I commend Councillor Gary Doherty of the Finn Valley for his tireless work on this. He has not stopped for years in trying to advocate for the communities in the valley. Repeated floods and ongoing delays make it clear that funding alone is insufficient. Immediate interim flood prevention measures are urgently required. Flood protection cannot wait because the lives and livelihoods of these citizens, particularly in the Finn Valley area where this has happened before, are petrified it will happen again. We see the constant rising of the River Finn. It is only a matter of time before something happens again.”
“Communities in the Finn Valley have suffered catastrophic flooding. In Ballybofey and Stranorlar in particular, there has been repeated flooding over the decades, including major events in the 1960s, 1990s, 2015 and 2020. Each flood has caused significant damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and livelihoods. Families have been traumatised and communities economically and socially scarred, with some failing to recover. The Ballybofey-Stranorlar flood scheme remains at the planning and design stage, as the Minister of State knows. Work is meant to begin in 2027. The stark reality is that this demonstrates that meaningful flood protections are literally years away, particularly in the Finn Valley, leaving the residents exposed to flooding again into the future.”
“I ask that the Taoiseach look at this decision and revisit it as a matter of urgency so we can work with St. Eunan's. Will the Government commit to immediately engaging with St. Eunan's College to fix this injustice? It needs all the help it can get.”
“I want to address the decision announced last week to exclude St. Eunan's College, Letterkenny, from the latest school capital funding allocation. We need to be clear about this. This school was doing everything it could do, getting everything ready and engaging with the Department. Planning permission has been in place since 2022 and an agreed pathway for progression has been made. I visited the college last week. It is overcrowded and temporary buildings are now becoming permanent. The children in the community have the right to dignity and safety at home and at school but they have been failed twice now. Going from unsafe homes to unsafe learning environments is not ideal. Only one Donegal project was approved for funding, which is welcome, but other counties received multiples.”
“That is all welcome but looking at the University of Ulster study on the impact of defective concrete crisis, the profound lasting effects on mental health and well-being going down the line have to be addressed. Last year, there was a 34% increase in youths seeking mental health service supports in Donegal, which is crazy. From day one, I know the Minister has been focused on making education more affordable. He said that and we can see it. Most of all, these young people need support. They have gone through trauma. The Minister has committed to funding mental health supports for students. Will he commit to ring-fencing mental health funding for students impacted by defective concrete? That will be vital as we move forward. We have 25,000 houses to rebuild in Donegal. It will take a long time.”
“I am glad and grateful the Minister is committing to this, but I want to make him aware that this shortfall will come into place for people as the scheme starts to ramp up, particularly in Donegal and in less economically well-off areas.”
“I thank the Minister. To elaborate, for someone in Donegal, the cost of getting through a course at the Atlantic Technological University will be around €24,000 and it will cost €60,000 for someone who goes further afield and rents accommodation. For parents living in structurally unsafe homes, the issue is that when they go to rebuild the home, there is a shortfall. With the shortfall comes a decision as to whether to send their children to college. Over a five-year period, they have to decide whether to rebuild the home, at a cost to the family, and then whether they can get the funding from the banks. It comes down to that.”
“Clear consistent communication is not a courtesy of infrastructure development; it is absolutely necessary. Major infrastructural decisions such as the blanket restrictions on building alongside the N56 in Donegal, which Councillor Denis McGee has advocated for for years and which has prevented families from building on their own land, must be reconsidered with clear and early engagement with public representatives when implementing this infrastructural plan. I am wary of some actions detailed in the plan. Limiting judicial reviews to speed up infrastructural planning is the wrong approach. Judicial reviews exist because there is a genuine need to fill gaps where procedures have failed. People resort to them because constitutional rights to fair procedures, equality before law and access to justice are being undermined.”
“I absolutely support accelerating the delivery of critical infrastructure such as transport, water and electricity network across the country. I particularly welcome pillar 3 of the infrastructure plan. It looks to build capacity in the construction sector. We desperately need to increase capacity across infrastructure, housing and road projects to meet current and future demand. Pillar 4 will introduce measures to strengthen co-operation between the utilities and local authorities. Too often, there has been a serious lack of communication between public representatives and utility providers. We simply cannot get the answers. It undermines effective planning and erodes public trust when elected officials are excluded from timely, meaningful dialogue, local knowledge is ignored and communities are left in the dark.”
“There is a seven-day outreach service which will support people to remain in their own home and integrate with their local community as planned. As well as this, day services and acute short-term services will reduce the number of admissions to the department of psychiatry. Funding for a new crisis resolution team is needed. We need significantly more mental health facilities in Donegal to deal with the issues we are experiencing, with many more to come. Will the Minister of State inform us of a timeline indicating commencement and completion of the transition and prioritise mental health facilities in the north west? Down the line, this will be an absolute epidemic.”
“We have had a significant rise in young people seeking mental health support. According to Jigsaw, 744 people in Donegal sought support between January and October last year. That is a massive 34% increase on the previous year. The defective concrete crisis is one of the causes. It affects more than bricks and mortar; it affects marriages, families and children and severely impacts our elderly population, who feel abandoned. They have contacted me. They are in vulnerable situations and are going through the later stages of life in severe peril and depression. Their mental health has gone. They are broken. We need to address this and realise how serious it is. I have been in contact with the Minister of State in the past regarding the old convent in Carndonagh, a recovery-focused, crisis intervention step-down facility.”
“Early exposure to prolonged stress has been shown to impact long-term physical and mental health. The crisis is intergenerational. The pressures and trauma experienced by parents and caregivers are directly influencing their children's sense of safety. It is having a profound effect on their mental health as their lives progress, causing unprecedented levels of mental illness in Donegal. Without timely, sustained intervention, the defective concrete crisis creates a serious risk these mental health difficulties will be carried forward and become generational, deepening inequality and placing further strain on already stretched services. For this reason, we urgently need to develop an integrated crisis response pathway for mental health in Donegal involving our emergency departments, which is vital.”
“More than a third of the 393 adults surveyed reported experiencing suicidal ideation and suicidal thoughts. Sadly, the research conducted on the children living in defective concrete homes has showed a similar trend which is heartbreaking. Children being raised in homes with defective concrete already experience profound and lasting effects to their mental health and emotional well-being. Many individuals are affected by uncertainty, instability and chronic stress when growing up. This can stifle their development, increase the risk of anxiety and depression and cause behavioural issues. You can imagine just how difficult it is for children with disabilities and special needs living in these circumstances and the impact is not confined to childhood.”
“Our emergency departments have been reduced and we have not had significant investment in years. Donegal is suffering and is facing a significant mental health crisis characterised by long waiting lists, rising demands and overstretched services, compounded by the defective concrete crisis currently going on and the mental health crisis that is causing. I have raised Oisin Keenan's research many times before. I will continue to do so because it continues to be relevant. Oisin's study, An Earthquake in Slow Motion: The Mental Health Impact on Ireland's Defective Concrete Crisis, has shown that rates of depression, anxiety and trauma-related disorders are all significantly higher among adults living with defective concrete in their homes compared with the general population of Ireland.”
“The consequences are just as real and detrimental. Left unaddressed, mental illness increases the risk of physical disease, isolation, homelessness and death. Minimising this does not reduce its impact. It allows preventable suffering and loss to continue. Research tells us that one in two people in Ireland will directly or indirectly experience a mental health crisis at some point in their life. Investing in emergency mental health services makes sense and it would have wide-ranging impacts. The Mental Health Commission has reported that each year an estimated 51,000 people access mental health services for the first time through a hospital emergency department. That should not be the case. There should be a dedicated fully staffed place where people experiencing mental health difficulties can go.”
“I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this incredibly important motion on emergency mental health services. It is essential that we appreciate this is a vital area that needs to be looked at. For these reasons, I strongly support the motion that calls for every model 3 and model 4 hospital to have a dedicated mental health emergency room, separate from the emergency department. A dedicated mental health emergency room would be a game changer for the likes of Letterkenny hospital. It would allow patients suffering from mental health illness to get immediate specialised care which is far too often delayed and inaccessible, and in cases in Donegal completely absent. It is devastating that in this day and age we still treat mental illness with less urgency and seriousness than physical illness.”
“I acknowledge that local authorities have autonomy in managing the defective concrete blocks scheme but yesterday homeowners were denied transparency. A decision was made not to livestream defective concrete committee meetings where important decisions are made about people’s lives. The councillors who voted against this access represent a deliberate and serious failure to meet acceptable standards of transparency. Homeowners want to know who supports them. The vote yesterday showed who did not support them. They shut people out of decisions that are being made about their lives. The public can and do see this is a betrayal. The country can see what is happening in Donegal. Denying access in these circumstances is unacceptable. These people are victims. What powers or guidance exists around transparency for homeowners?”
“There are 3,000 people on the scheme. I am one of them. Some 300 houses have been built and another 300 are going through that process. At this rate, it will be 150 years before we get 10,000 houses done and we have 25,000 to do. Materials are coming in that IS 465 needs to recognise. That is where the fault is. The appeals board is independent in name only. There is an issue with that, which I will raise with the Taoiseach at a later point. It has been clearly indicated that there are serious structural dangers with the scheme's design. Will the Taoiseach tell the Minister for housing to look at these test cases? I just need to the Minister to look at these test cases. That is what I need to move forward. If he will accept this, it will help to change what is currently going on.”
“When they challenge that decision, they are forced into an appeals process that sends the case back to the engineers who made the decision in the first place, so we are going around in a loop. This is not an appeals process. It is a circular State-sanctioned loop. Will the Taoiseach instruct the Minister for housing and the Housing Agency to immediately stop using this flawed interpretation of IS 465 and to review the decisions in these test cases to protect homeowners? It is a simple yes or no. I know how much the scheme cost and exactly what is involved in it. I just need a yes or a no so that we can look at these test cases and move on.”
“The cause is not the issue. The law and the standard are completely clear. Residents deserve protection right now. Access is also being denied due to so-called external sulphate attack. Leading scientists advise that external sulphate attack would only reasonably be expected below the damp-proof coursing of the house, that is, in the groundwork and soil below the bell cast. Despite this, detailed IS 465 testing did not examine below the damp-proof course. The very location most at risk was not tested. Let me be clear, these actions have real-world consequences. People living in extremely unsafe homes are told the damage to those homes was not caused by defective concrete. They are then instructed to pay for further testing out of their own pocket, costing thousands.”
“They fall under group 4 as regards damage and are officially classified as dangerous buildings. Anyone with eyes in their head can see these homes contain defective concrete and yet these applications were refused. The agency's own words are clear. In one case, it said that, having considered IS465:2018, as amended in 2020, it was appropriate that the decision in the case was refusal due to the building damage not being caused by the use of defective blocks containing excessive amounts of certain deleterious materials. Let us be clear about this; mica is a deleterious material. Under IS 465, any building incorporating deleterious materials qualifies under the damage threshold and is eligible for remediation. Even if the engineers claim mica is not the sole cause, the blocks are defective under the IS 465 standard.”
“Last week, I warned this House that the Housing Agency is stretching IS 465 to exclude homeowners from the defective concrete block remediation scheme. At least one engineer is saying they will not fix defective homes, ignoring the criteria IS 465 sets out for defective blocks. The Government cannot hide behind technical language while families are left unsafe in their homes. What I am raising today confirms that this is not a mistake. It is a pattern and this pattern is now putting people in danger. I am aware of multiple cases where homeowners who clearly meet the eligibility criteria under IS 465 are being refused access to the scheme by engineers employed by the Housing Agency. These are not marginal cases. They are homes in which the mica content is above 6%.”
“Parents want to raise their children in rural areas where they grew up. They would take the opportunity to move back out of cities and move back to such areas in the morning if they had the flexibility and option to do so. People should be given the opportunity to make lives for themselves and have access to work and transport in rural areas. Allowing remote and flexible working would help to breathe life into many towns and villages which have been abandoned and have seen no investment in recent years. It would stop the steady loss of public and essential services that we have seen lately. For example, the village post office in Fanad first opened in 1873 but closed last year. Fintra National School in Killybegs was established in 1841 and now faces closure because it does not have the population to sustain it.”
“We have to prioritise the upgrading of the national grid, which is essential, particularly in rural areas. There have been many outages in rural areas due to increasing storms, which has made it very difficult for remote working to be a viable option, in particular in Donegal. It is concerning that when we are trying to encourage people not to travel during weather warnings, they are going into offices. There have been incidents where damage has occurred. Allowing remote working would allow us to alleviate accommodation and home shortages in Dublin, in particular. There are thousands of people from rural communities working in Dublin. If they had the opportunity to work from home they would do so, which would breathe life back into communities. People of all ages want to retire to their home areas.”
“I thank the Labour Party and Deputy Wall for bringing forward the motion on the right for employees to request flexible and remote working and the introduction of an action plan to improve transport services over the next 12 months. If I could add one thing to the motion it would be to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to make flexibility and remote working possible, in particular in rural areas. It might shock some Deputies to know that parts of Donegal still do not have access to fibre broadband, which is ridiculous in this day and age. I welcome that this week Tory Island finally received broadband, meaning that 118 homes and businesses on the island now have broadband, which is welcome. The reality is ridiculous and has been going on for far too long.”
“Then you go out into the community and you are doing that with a family. It is challenging and hard but it can be done. I look at the private model and I believe we are missing a trick here. The private providers charge a certain amount of money. If we were to pay people the right wage, we would attract numbers that would actually solve this issue. Going forward, we need to look at that. If the Minister of State looks at the model in place now, which does not have that flexibility, he will understand that by allowing somebody to come in at certain times of the day, tied not to a full-time contract but to some kind of contract that means they will give part-time hours, they will be able to fill a gap and help to meet staffing levels, and in the long run they will be attracted to come into this sector.”
“In Donegal, for example, we have a heavy reliance - when they are operating - on our hospitals in Lifford, Dungloe and so on. We need to make sure we have sufficient beds in place. There will be people who need care, but the majority of people can be provided with care at home and they will stay in their home for as long as possible before they have to go into some form of care. I recognise that. There is a way out of this if we get the staffing levels right and look at the model. The HSE model is a good example, but the flexibility would be a game changer. It is a matter of allowing parents to come on board properly trained. That is a very important aspect of this. If you are training somebody to do this properly, it takes two years to go in, do your modules, come out of it with a good standard and then do your work experience.”
“That flexibility leaves open the possibility that when your children grow up, you could go into it full-time. If that were sorted out, it could be a real game changer because a lot of parents would be willing to go into this area and, if they were paid properly, would make it their career. We need to look at that in the long run. In 2016 the Government made a commitment to introduce a statutory right to home care through a statutory home care support scheme. A decade later, this has still not been implemented. We need to make sure it is done. The fair deal scheme provides statutory rights to residential care, but no equivalent scheme currently exists when it comes to home care. We need to look at that because, as has been said, we have an ageing population.”