Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I suppose I have a little personal knowledge of this matter. I would have an affinity with it. Of course it would be an objective to be able to increase the budget in this area. It is not something that is being forgotten. We are very familiar with what happens, especially with the home care teams. I would like to mention an interesting development. Many people are staying and being maintained at home for a long time. This means the only people who are going into inpatient hospice beds are those with significant levels of need. Their demands are so great that even the very established hospices are experiencing funding difficulties. The fair deal has to be part of it. I would like to mention another matter about which we need to be very conscious. The VHI needs to be conscious of this as well, and it is in terms of the beds. If someone has been paying VHI all of his or her life, it just cannot suddenly stop for that little piece at the end of his or her life. In many cases, they are very conscious of that and they do deliver. We need to have a conversation with them about how best we can do that as well. I think it is far more complex than people imagine. If one talks to most of the voluntary organisations that deal with palliative care, they will clearly tell one that the needs of people during that journey, which can sometimes be extensive, are far more complex than we thought. Of course it would be magnificent to be able to increase the budget. It is not something that will slip off the agenda. We are very conscious of it.

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