It is vitally important that we do not take carers and care workers for granted. Too often that is the case. Regarding carers themselves, there was an awful lot of talk about that in the general election. What has happened since then has not been anywhere near what was committed to. We are very lucky in this country that we have such a strength in terms of family carers who are willing to offer support out of duty, responsibility and love. The truth of it is that we should not take that for granted. Abolishing the means test for carers is not only the right thing to do, but in recognition of the fact that many people are providing an amount of care that the State could never provide and are getting very little and in many instances nothing for it. We need to redress that. The Government has not moved fast enough. That is also true of people who are working in care. There is the whole issue that we used to call them home helps. There is huge respect for home helps given the work they do. They are now called healthcare assistants or home support workers. When we talk about them being taken for granted, which is too often the case, they have balloted for industrial action because of their frustrations at trying to get the HSE to implement things that it has already agreed to. That includes being paid for their 15-minute break. Most people who are working in jobs that are paid by the hour are paid for their break. That is what they are expected to be able to do. In many instances, they are not getting the required 11 hours between shifts. That is a breach of the working time Act. When that happens, the HSE is breaking the working time Act. There are split shifts too often and outsourcing. As my colleague emphasised, it is more expensive in the end. It does not provide the same standard of care. We need to tackle the issue of increasingly the HSE moving towards outsourcing home care. We have some of the best people working as what was previously known as home helps. They are fantastic and committed people. They are committed to their clients, but they need the support and recognition that they deserve. The HSE has to implement those things that it was previously holding back on. I fully support the actions of the health care assistants and home helps.

Sentiment score: 0.31