Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The spring of 2011 was a time of political excitement. After 14 years of mis-government, which left a legacy of political corruption, service malfunction and financial destruction, there was a chance of a new start.

The general election in 2011 was an exciting time for me, as a first-time TD, but it was also an exciting time for the Irish electorate who were crying out for change from the tried and failed ways of the previous Government. During the election campaign I recall that Fine Gael and the Labour Party tried to outdo each other in portraying themselves as being different from the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government. The change of government seemed to herald a new dawn, a new way of governance. Perhaps I was a little naive but I believed the now-Taoiseach when he said on my first day in the Dáil that there would be openness, transparency and a willingness to work with the Opposition parties and Deputies in the interests of the Irish people. Were we really going to see the promised democratic revolution? After nearly one year and nine months in government my only question is: where is its democratic revolution?

I will read a summary of an e-mail I received from a distressed constituent last week. It states:

This time twelve months ago my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He was a decent hard-working man who provided for his family and paid his way all through his working life. Over the past year the situation has become increasingly difficult. My elderly mother is now my father's carer. My father is in need of 24-hour care and attention. The situation is so severe that my mother's dress size has reduced from size 14 to a size 8 in one year. My father is still very physically active despite his disease. From early afternoon until his bed time at 10.30 p.m. he walks laps of the house, attempts to go home even though he is already at home and is constantly anxious about the farm that he has retired from. He has very poor co-ordination due to the medication that he is on and is prone to accidents. Only last week he fell and cut his cheek.


Daily tasks are now a struggle for him. Shaving has left him with many cuts and scratches; finding the toilet has caused him problems and has led him to urinating in random places around the house.


His HSE transport to day services was withdrawn last month. My 72 year old mother, a frail nervous woman who was never the main driver, now has to drive Dad for respite care.


The only saving grace for my mother has been the respite care that my father has been receiving. My mother is 72 years old and these periods of peace are possibly the only reason she has not fallen sick herself. My mother is saving the state major money by caring for her husband at home and she is doing it because she thinks it is the right thing to do.

My question is this: is it part of Fine Gael's and Labour's democratic revolution to take respite care from this elderly woman? What is in the happy Christmas and new year greeting card to this couple? A reduction of €325 in the respite care grant, a increase of €250 to €350 in the family house tax, and a continuing reduction of respite care services and transport as the HSE and voluntary organisations struggle in vain to meet people's needs with diminishing resources. The Minister's only response when we in Sinn Féin point out that there are fair alternatives, choices that could be made, is for those on the Government benches to shout abuse at us - abuse that has nothing to do with the cases we put forward - just like their Fianna Fáil and Green Party predecessors. A merry Christmas and healthy and happy new year indeed. Shame on the Government.

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