Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is increasingly common that we hear of people dying in their home and they are found three or six months later or even 12 months. That was one of the driving influences behind ALONE, where Willie Bermingham came across people in various situations as part of his work and had the foresight to establish the organisation. It is a challenge. Instead of things improving, it seems like society is getting worse in many ways and there are so many people who do not have human contact on a daily basis. The point was made about the change in carers. When the Department was in we were making the point that it is not unusual for the carers to be changed on a daily basis and that has an impact on the individual. There is no continuity or no relationship built up and so on.

The witnesses mentioned the traditional tasks that would have been done such as changing sheets and basic needs like that. One would imagine that as part of well-being and health. Where did that come from? The point was made that it is more about the needs of the organisations that are delivering this rather than the individual for whom the service is being delivered. Is that where the changes came about? It seems like a basic thing. It is not just changing sheets but there is also a change away from shopping and all those other tasks. Someone might be living in an urban setting and can send off to one of the supermarkets and have it delivered but people cannot do that in rural Ireland. They depend on their neighbours and friends. If they are isolated, they are in huge difficulty. Is there any insight on why that changed?