Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply, but I regret that I do not accept the principle he is enunciating. He is saying more and more money is being spent, but that is not the case in the CHO 8 area. Funding only became available when people died; I have received a letter from the HSE to that effect. They have been called "recycled hours", meaning that they have been reallocated on someone's death. While I agree and acknowledge that more money is being spent than ever before, it is not being spent in this area and I want the Minister of State to investigate the reason for this. I have spoken to officials in the HSE who are also very concerned. Why is it the case that the service in CHO 8 has not received an increase in allocation? Why is there no money available? People are coming to my office and I have to fight for their rights. What about the poor child, aged six years, who cannot receive the 18 hours he has been granted? That is unacceptable in our society. I acknowledge the work the Minister of State is doing and the €20 million in extra funding he is providing to keep people out of hospital and in their homes, but we are not going far enough. As a Government, we have to do a lot more in providing disability services for people who need care and want to stay at home. They are being placed in appalling situations, including the lady I described. The request was not made yesterday or the day before but last year when she was in a wheelchair, not bedridden like she is now. The quality of care she needed and it was agreed to provided was denied to her. Her human rights were denied. Someone somewhere has a policy and is enforcing a rule in an area at the beginning of a financial year in which more money than ever before has been provided to make sure a service is available.

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