Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge Sinn Féin for its work on the motion and I thank Deputy Butler and Fianna Fáil for their amendment. This is a terribly important motion to bring before the Dáil. Every Member knows well the tremendous good home help providers do in our communities. We were all very upset last week when home help providers whose payments were stopped were faced with having to put petrol and diesel into their cars themselves. Thankfully, that situation has been resolved. I only know about County Kerry but it might have been the same in other parts of the country. It was affecting my county very badly and I am grateful the payments will be made in ten days' time. The backlog of money owed to these people is terribly important.

I am concerned about the following. When a person needs care, it is proven that it is better if it can be provided in the home. Everyone of us would rather be at home than anywhere else. One could be in the finest hospital or the grandest hotel, but there is nothing like one's own corner of this world, namely, one's own little home which is a nice place to be. When a person needs home care, that need does not cease to exist on Friday evening. That is why home help provision on Saturdays and Sundays is of such great importance. The Minister of State knows that the programme for Government refers to the provision of home help on Saturdays and Sundays where it is deemed necessary. That was put there for a specific purpose, namely, to ensure that when people need care and assistance at home at the weekends, they get it. With people working away from the family home and given emigration, family units may not be as strong as we would like and the help might not be there to care for people at home at weekends. I ask for each case to be looked at individually. These people deserve respect and everything we can do to help them as they get older or when they suffer from a disability and need care and assistance. I commend in the highest possible way the home help providers I know in Kerry who do diligent work. I thank them on the Dáil record for the great work they do.

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