Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State indicated that the new scheme will be centralised and that the delivery of services will be co-ordinated at local level in line with a person’s assessed needs. The 200 people in Longford and Westmeath have been assessed and deemed medically in need of this help but they are still not getting it. Does he agree with the decision in my region that people who are medically approved are put on a waiting list? Does he think it is morally right that the only people in my constituency who can get home help are terminally ill? The only help they are getting is 3.5 hours per week? That is half an hour a day to a family whose loved one is dying in their home. That is the only support the State is giving the family. Whatever happened to ensuring that people who wanted to live out their last years in their own homes could be enabled to do so with the support of the State? It is not happening now and it is wrong. People want to live out their last years in their own homes. It is the right thing to do and makes economic sense.

It is a shame the way the Government is treating senior citizens at present.

Will the Minister of State, in his reply, say when the additional 1 million home help hours achieved as part of the confidence and supply agreement will come into effect for those on the waiting lists?

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