Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an tUasal Michael O'Brien. I understand he is a Dub, so he is doubly "fáilte".

Yesterday, we heard the heart-rending story of Michael and Kathleen Devereaux from Wexford. Michael is 90, Kathleen is 85 and they have been inseparable during their 63 years of marriage. In April of this year they applied to the fair deal scheme. Michael was accepted but Kathleen was not. The Health Service Executive, HSE, maintained that Kathleen did not need long-term nursing home care despite the fact she had been in hospital since 28 April and requires constant care and supervision. The rejection of Kathleen's application is made all the more bewildering as it was supported by a letter from her doctor in which he makes clear that she would benefit from long-term care. Instead of allowing Kathleen to be with her husband in full-time care, however, the HSE offered her a home care package which comprised two 30 minute sessions of care twice a week. That is two hours of home care per week for an 85 year old woman suffering health problems, who has spent the past three months in hospital and who would be expected to cope with living alone for the first time in over six decades.

It has been made very clear that the family does not have the skills needed to support their mother living at home. The family appealed the HSE decision and was turned down. In media interviews, Michael, aged 90, described the devastation of the experience, saying there are times he feels as if his head is going to burst. He tries to switch off. He said they were loyal citizens all their lives and it was terrible to think the country has led them to this situation. He cannot sleep, he wakes at 3 or 4 every morning, he prays and then he cries.

This couple would have been left in this dreadful situation had they not taken to the national airwaves. That is a damning indictment of the HSE and of the Government. What is going on in the HSE to say that someone can make such an awful decision and then stand over it? It is mind-boggling. Those responsible for this decision have to be held to account. I suggest that anyone who is okay with treating an 85 year old woman with such contempt should not be working in the area of health care. We know this is not an isolated case. How many other couples are like Michael and Kathleen? Has the Taoiseach asked? Does he know?

I know that transitional arrangements have now been made for Kathleen and that a review of the case has been initiated but nothing is certain.

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