Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
608. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he will provide information on the commission on care; the terms of reference, expected membership and expected timelines; and if the commission will not delay the findings and implementation of recommendations by the Cross Departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group. [11588/22]
View answerThe Government is currently establishing a Commission on Care to assess how we care for older people and ensure we incorporate lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially an extensive review will be conducted on all relevant age-related strategies, with any gaps addressed through a collaborative process with a variety of stakeholders. Approaching the review from the bottom up is an opportunity to strengthen older person policies and strategies in the areas of COVID-19, Gender, Mental Health, Disabilities, and Marginalised communities. This initial review will ensure that the needs of communities across Ireland are accurately reflected in the Terms of Reference and subsequent work of the commission.
Alongside this Commission on Care, I am also committed to establishing a cross-Departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group to examine strategic workforce challenges, including recruitment and retention of workers, in front-line carer roles in home support and nursing homes.
The work of the Strategic Workforce Advisory Group will centre on engagement with the relevant stakeholders in the sector. To this end, a 'Call for Submissions' was issued by my Department to relevant stakeholders in December 2021. Following receipt of these completed submissions in January, my Department undertook a short-life scoping exercise to gather initial data and evidence on the nature and extent of the challenges in the sector to inform the structure and membership of this cross-departmental Group.
This scoping exercise is now complete and invitations to join the Group, along with its draft Terms of Reference, have been issued to all relevant Government Departments and agencies. The inaugural meeting of the Group will be held on Thursday, 3rd March 2022.
At this meeting, the Terms of Reference for the Group and action timelines will be agreed. These Terms of Reference will be published once finalised by the Group.
This Group will then progress a structured programme of ongoing consultative engagements with key sectoral stakeholders to further explore and define the issues, listen to stakeholder views, and identify approaches to respond to the strategic workforce challenges.
The Group will provide a forum for agreement on strategic approaches to address the workforce challenges in the sector and develop a report for my consideration outlining the Group’s key findings, recommendations, and a proposed action plan to support implementation of these recommendations to include periodic monitoring of progress.
