FEARS have arisen for the future of up to 350 home-help jobs in Limerick after a valuable contract for the service was given to a private company in Dublin. SIPTU has told the Limerick Post that it is “very concerned” that the HSE in Dublin opted to put the work of providing home-help to clients in the capital out to contract to commercial companies, and that those companies have had substantial success in securing the contracts.
Ted Kenny, the SIPTU representative for the sector in the Mid West, said that the practice in Dublin bodes ill for Limerick and other parts of the country.
Mr Kenny told the Limerick Post that some private companies are producing lower quotes for providing the service than organisations, such as Clarecare and the Wheelchair Society, which are currently employing home-helps in the Mid West.
“If they are paying their people less, they can undercut the not-for-profit organisations but then the result is a high turnover in staff, because people don’t want to stay doing the same job for less money,” he said.
Home-helps can be employed through charity organisations, directly by the HSE or, rarely, by the service users themselves This does not happen often as the service user then becomes responsible for making tax, PRSI and other returns normally made by an employer.
Mr Kenny said that the question now is:
“Are decisions being made based on the quality of care or on the cheapest quote and as this has saved money in Dublin, it raises real concerns about what might happen here”.
A spokesperson for the HSE in Limerick said they could make no comment either way as there has not yet been any proposal to alter how contracts are awarded.
