Less than a third of homecare packages are being directly provided by the Health Service Executive, new figures show, with more than 5,500 people waiting for support in their homes or extra care hours.With demand for homecare increasing as the proportion of older people in the population grows, an Opposition TD accused the Government of creating a situation in which “nursing homes are viewed as the default option”.The HSE figures show that, as of June, 5,539 people were waiting for homecare, up 12 per cent compared with the same period last year. Of those, 2,143 were new service users and 3,396 were already in receipt of home support but waiting on additional hours.Two HSE regions account for almost half of the national waiting list. The West and Northwest region – covering Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, west Cavan, Mayo, Galway and Roscommon – had the highest waiting list (1,265 people), representing 23 per cent of the total. The Dublin and North East region was next highest, with 1,165 people waiting, 21 per cent of the national total.The figures were released in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democrats health spokesman Pádraig Rice TD.In its reply, the HSE acknowledged that just 29.8 per cent of home support hours were provided through direct services in the first six months of the year, with the remaining hours provided indirectly through other companies.The proportion of this care provided directly by the HSE has gradually decreased in recent years, having stood at 44 per cent in 2019.Figures published recently by the Central Statistics Office show the number of people aged 65 and over increased by 165,000 to 891,100 between 2020 and this year, with this age group accounting for 16.1 per cent of the population (up from 14.4 per cent in 2020). Kathleen Jordan, HSE head of services for older people, access and integration, said home support services had experienced “sustained and significant growth in recent years”.This growth reflected “increasing demographic demand” as well as the policy goals to support people to remain living in their own homes and communities as long as possible, she added.“As pressures across the wider health system continue to increase, home support remains a critical component in facilitating hospital avoidance and supporting timely hospital discharge,” she said.Jordan said this year’s national service plan provides for the delivery of 27 million hours of home support to 62,000 service users, an increase of 10 per cent in budget terms.Commenting on the figures, Rice said the “permanent crisis in homecare cannot be tolerated any longer”.“If we are to move away from a situation where nursing homes are viewed as the default option for older people, then we must provide the necessary homecare hours to support people to remain in their homes and communities,” he said.“This Government loves to talk about the virtues of homecare but consistently fails to deliver it. A statutory right to homecare has been promised for almost a decade, and yet we are still waiting. This Government needs to finally match its rhetoric with action.”Rice also warned against the “creeping privatisation of homecare”.“Additional homecare hours are desperately needed but there must be a greater focus on scaling up public provision rather than relying so heavily on outsourcing. This would better serve the interests of both older people and homecare workers,” he added.