Longford County Councillors are to call on the Minister for Health to lift the recruitment ban on HSE Homecare Staff.
A motion from Councillor Gary Murtagh argues that private operators, which have been propping up the system, are bowing out of the sector due to low wages and what he brands 'insulting subsidies'.
Speaking at the May meeting of Longford County Council, the Granard Area representative says he's inundated with requests for help from families whose loved ones are afraid to live at home on their own without the support.
Councillor Murtagh says this is resulting in people blocking hospital and care home beds, adding to an already overwhelmed health system.
He's crtiticised the HSE for not supporting workers on the ground.
''They're being well played and well looked after but the reality they're not feeding down into the staff in the ground and they're all leaving the profession so it ends up that our elderly people, our most vulnerable in society, that want to stay at home and are looking for support and help, they are the ones left exposed. From talking to people in the community it's at breaking point and the reality is I've said it to the opposite side of the house this evening, they need to talk to their minister and we need to do something about it and we need to lift the recruitment embargo.''
