Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not know who the Minister is trying to kid with his last statement. It is a bit rich for him as Minister for Health to come to this House and state this is his guiding policy while at the same time overseeing the removal of 1 million hours of home care support from these very vulnerable people. It is an appalling decision by the Government and the parties which will support the decision. People throughout the country are angry at the decisions the Minister is implementing in the Department of Health. I hope that in my county on Friday we will see thousands of people taking to the streets to protest against the cuts to home help hours. The march will leave St. Conal's Hospital in Letterkenny and go to Market Square. I am sure there will be people from all walks of life, including those who support other political parties and no political parties. What will unite everyone is the fact we are opposed to the appalling decision by the Government to cut home help hours.

My colleagues have outlined the facts, but they cannot be overstated. A total of €8 million is to be cut from the home help budget between now and the end of the year. An additional €1.7 million will be cut from home care packages. In total 450,000 hours of vital care and support for many of our community's most vulnerable people will be taken away. In my county of Donegal, we have seen brutal and savage cuts to home help packages for our sick and elderly in recent years. We have seen home help supports taken from vulnerable people in the county. These cuts were implemented not only by the Fine Gael and Labour Party Government, they were in the main implemented by Fianna Fáil and the Green Party Government. Many people I know listening at home in Donegal will be surprised at the crocodile tears shed by the Fianna Fáil Deputies during the debate, when they remember that in 2010, in one year in just the one county of Donegal, the Fianna Fáil Government cut 99,595 hours of home help support. It is a bit rich for Deputy Micheál Martin to come into this House crying about something we all know he would do if he had the chance to sit on the Government side of the House.

From speaking to those on the front line providing support, I know that, as Deputy McDonald said, many of them do not go to a home for 15 minutes or half an hour. They stay on to help the individual through the day to ensure their needs are met.

This is because they are people who are passionate about giving the support and care needed by people in their communities. They are people who live up to the rhetoric, not the type of spiel we have heard from the Minister about his aim and ambitions to do this, that and the other. These people are doing it, many times without pay from the Department because the Government has cut their hours.

The plan to cut home help hours by 450,000 hours is cruel and heartless. This will mean a further loss of 20,000 home help hours between now and the end of the year for people in my county. That is almost 2,000 hours per week. It is on top of the 25,000 hours that have been taken away from that county so far this year. It is not feasible to expect a basic level of service will be provided at this level.

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