Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is nothing I disagree with in that. I am all about promoting equality and safety. I know the Minister understands the challenges facing us, especially those facing elderly people. Our elderly population is increasing as well. I was at the Joint Committee on Health and Children this morning where we met representatives from the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. The lady who spoke, Caitriona Crowe, is from the south Tipperary dementia pilot project and she explained what they were doing. Among the figures she gave was that there are approximately 54,700 people with dementia throughout the country. The figure is growing all the time.

There is an understanding that if people stay at home, they live longer, they are more comfortable in their home space and more comfortable when surrounded by people they know. Most of the home care teams in my area are made up of people who have worked in the area for a long time and they know the residents. However, we are a far cry from the 90 clients I have in Ballyfermot and Inchicore who are waiting for some home help hours. To me, they are the important people.

It is the small things that matter to most people when their parents get older. The way the home help service has been run down through the years has raised questions and it has been difficult to manage at times. I believe the services are coming to a better understanding of what it is about. I have no problem with anyone having a cup of tea and talking to someone, but not for two hours, something that happened in the past. Thankfully, that does not happen now and we have really committed people.

The Government is pouring vast sums of money into these services across the board. However, I still have 90 clients in the Ballyfermot and Inchicore areas who need these services. That is why I am speaking up today. I believe there is a small group of people in every community throughout the country who need a little extra. It may not involve a significant amount of money when it is calculated, but it matters a great deal to those people who cannot even secure an hour or two of home help in a week.

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