Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise this Topical Issue because I am greatly concerned about the lack of provision of respite care and home packages by the Department of Health. I realise it is not the Department of the Minister of State present. I will give an example of how this issue came to a head. A 93 year old constituent of mine was in hospital after a recent illness and the social worker said that 21 hours of home care would be awarded to this family. The difficulty is that the family has been told there is no funding available for the 21 hours. I put questions down to the Minister and he said it was a matter for the HSE but the HSE is not in a position to give the information on these 21 hours. I realise this is an issue affecting people throughout the State. Some counties have been left behind. There are nearly 700 people waiting in Galway, 600 in north Dublin, 578 in Wexford, and 200 in Dublin South-West. They are all impacted by this.

The crisis this family is facing is that the mother was getting very distressed where she was and they took her home. She is getting 24-hour care now. One can realise this cost of this by a simple calculation in one's head. It could be anyone's relation. This is just one example. Unfortunately for the family, they have taken on this burden. Surely if it is indicated that there are hours available, the family should get some support. Unfortunately, up to now, that has not happened.

I am aware that this is not the responsibility of the Minister of State present but there is the notion of collective responsibility. I ask the Minister of State to go to the Minister of State in charge to try to find out when this funding may become available. The Minister of State may recall that during the week I asked the Taoiseach about this particular area. Nobody at Cabinet level seems to be able to answer the question on these hours. The Taoiseach stated that the budget had been increased for next year which is great. When will this be seen on the ground and, in particular, in these people's homes?

It does not make economic sense to leave people in respite care beds if the family wants to take them home. It is distressing for the patients themselves. It also probably puts the patient at risk from infections and so on that can be picked up in hospitals, unfortunately. This woman, and perhaps many other people who are elderly, want to spend their remaining time in their home. That is where their happy memories are. They do not want to be in a bed in a ward with strangers even though they are being well looked after. At the end of the day, this woman wants to be at home with those who love her around her. She has good neighbours as well. Surely we should be able to come up with some sort of package or supports to help people remain in their home.

I do not know how the Minister of State feels about this but I feel sick to my stomach that someone is left in this situation where the family are left helpless. This woman is on oxygen and she is blind but her brain is absolutely perfect and she knows exactly what is going on. She knows her own mind and wants to stay in her own home. This is not a Third World country. With all the wealth that is floating round and the money we can spend and misuse on different things, surely we can come up with some sort of supports for families like this one.

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