Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

For the past 30 years I have been delivering meals-on-wheels to the elderly and disabled in my area in Killarney. It was always a free service from the HSE. A decision was taken that had nothing to do with the downturn in the economy, in that it was decided to bring in a small charge of €2 per day for a meal. A surprising number of people dropped out of the service because of the €2 charge, despite the fact that they were getting a substantial hot meal and dessert every day, which guaranteed at least one good meal a day. Sometimes people make bad choices. Those people now have to cook at home which costs them more but their decision not to pay was based on the fact that a charge had been introduced for something that had cost nothing.