THE number of people waiting for home support services in Donegal has risen by almost 150 per cent over the past five years.
At the end of December 2025, there were 341 people on waiting lists for home support services in the county.
This represents almost a 150 per cent increase since 2020 when 138 people were awaiting the vital service.
Figures show that the number of people on waiting lists in Donegal has increased steadily over the past five years, peaking in 2024 when close to 400 people were waiting for support.
There has also been a significant rise in the number of people waiting for additional home support hours. This figure increased from 51 in 2020 to 124 by the end of last year.
The figures provided by Paul Murphy TD through a parliamentary question he submitted on behalf of Donegal County Councillor Micheál Choilm Mac Giolla Easbuig.
The independent councillor said the figures point to a deliberate and ongoing decline in home support services in the county. He blamed the government for failing to recruit sufficient staff to meet demand.
“When a person requires home help support it’s for a reason but unfortunately this government doesn’t feel the empathy enough to make sure that there are adequate people recruited.
“I strongly believe that this isn’t just the lack of empathy, that this is about looking after the private sector, putting money into rich people’s pocket instead of putting services into people’s homes,” he said.
“With hundreds of people on the waiting list – and some who might not even have that much time – it’s a disgrace that government TD’s and the government itself believes that its more important to make profit for private home help companies than look after our family’s, neighbours and friends,” Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig added.
