Need for oversight of home care in Leitrim

The issue of private home care services in Leitrim was highlighted at this week's County Council meeting.

Published 8th May 2026, 21:00 BST More oversight of carers is needed, the meeting was told. The issue of private home care services in Leitrim was highlighted at this week's County Council meeting. The issue of private home care services in Leitrim was highlighted at this week's County Council meeting.

Cllr Gary Prior (FF) submitted a motion seeking clarity from the HSE on how private home care services in the county are being overseen.

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“What checks are being done when staff are hired, what are their training requirements, who is regulating the service, are staff fully qualified, what driving licence is required, and what conditions are they working under?” his motion stated.

“There are genuine concerns that some standards may be slipping and reassurance is needed that proper safeguards are in place for the most vulnerable people in society,” the motion added.

Speaking on his motion, Cllr Prior stated, “we rely very heavily on home care workers. It is very important we know who provides care.”

“Carers do their best in challenging situations but there needs to be structures in place,” he added.

Cllr Prior went on to outline some of the stories he had heard in relation to carers. “There was once instance I heard of where a carer was clearly on some substance and was laughing to himself,” he commented.

“There were other instances of carers sitting and being on their mobile phones,” he added.

Cllr Prior went on to outline the case of a gap in care he was awre of. “There is an elderly man I am aware of who was expecting agency staff to turn up on Saturday of last week, but no staff turned up,” he stated.

The motion was supported by fellow Fianna Fail councillor Paddy O'Rourke. “The HSE refuse to attend the council meetings. We keep being referred to the HSE forum. But the manner that the forum is organized, makes it hard to get satisfactory answers,” he commented.

“Home care means putting a total stranger into someone's home and they have access to every room in the house. These carers need to be up to standard,” Cllr O'Rourke added.

Cllr Brendan Barry (SF) told the meeting that he was aware of “a carer who travelled 60km to work as a carer and they were not getting paid for their mileage.”

“Carers are stopped from doing things such as buying items for people in shops and are taking a risk when they do such things for the people they are caring for,” he added.

Cllr Felim Gurn (Ind) said that, “I am on the HSE forum and there is frustration in getting answers from the HSE. Carers are going into people's houses and they are not lighting fires or changing bulbs.”

The meeting decided that another letter would be issued to the HSE.

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