Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Every time the Deputy raises an issue about matters to do with the elderly and disabled, there is an immediate emotional contact. It is true that this is a very difficult area in which to make any kind of adjustment without individual difficulties arising. I understand that. I meet such circumstances myself and I have had occasion to have queries about individual cases raised where particular circumstances apply either with a person's position or the change in a service being provided.

The service plan for 2012 was to deliver 10.7 million home help hours to 50,000 people. The reviews carried out are done in such a way so that anybody who is a current recipient of a service and who has an assessed need for a service will not be left without a service. I have seen cases where people may have a medical service that washes and changes them, which is a personal and sensitive matter, and a spouse or family member may not be trained to do that kind of work for an elderly person. There are different sorts of assistance given through various measures from the HSE, such as respite care, home care packages, home help or the meals on wheels service.

In the Cork area, for example, HSE south has provided in excess of 1.2 million home help hours to more than 6,100 clients.

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