Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Butler for bringing forward this motion. The issue of home help is one that we all deal with on a regular basis across the whole country. The Minister of State in his speech mentioned that the provision has grown and that more money is being put into home help, and that he has a continual need to better resource the service.

The reality on the ground which everyone needs to acknowledge is that demand is moving beyond provision. As the elderly population continues to grow, there will obviously be greater demand. We are not even keeping up with the current demand, never mind future growth.

It is an issue of geography. Some areas are worse off. In rural Ireland it is particularly difficult to obtain home help services. One of the things that stands out for me is that many of the new packages are part home care packages; they are not full packages. A problem is diagnosed and a solution determined. It is deemed necessary to prescribe a certain number of home help hours for someone coming home from hospital. The district nurse determines what is needed. When the service is required, a package may be put in place, but it might include only half of the number of hours required. There may be no service provided at weekends. I am dealing with an elderly person whose family have been told to hire someone to provide home help for an additional number of hours.

That is the position for the vast majority. First, they find it difficult to obtain a service in a lot of rural areas. If it is available, a huge cost is put on them. Many of them paid taxes all of their lives. They worked long and weary years with the expectation that at the end of their days the State would care for them, having paid and contributed so much to it. They feel extremely let down.

The waiting list issue was mentioned. It was said that in some counties waiting lists were much shorter than in others. Deputy Louise O'Reilly obtained some lists a couple of months ago and I could not understand them. They showed that nobody was waiting in community healthcare organisation, CHO, 1 in Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal, yet when I contact the service, I am told that hundreds are waiting. Sometimes the figures are massaged by someone to look good, but looking good is not good enough for the people who need the services. The waiting lists are very often misinformed, which needs to be acknowledged.

I commend Deputy Butler on bringing forward the motion. The issues raised clearly need to be dealt with as quickly as possible. As a merry little dance goes on as the confidence and supply agreement is worked out, I expect the motion to be a signal that the issue will be front and centre and that if a deal is finally done, we can expect to see increased provision of home help services and services for older people before Christmas.

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