Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am again raising an issue that I put to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, on the floor of the House some 12 months ago. It relates to the provisions that are being made by the HSE, together with the education sector, to recruit staff, and whether there is consultation and communication in that regard. I refer to the home care support packages that are not being delivered. The hours are there but the staff are not. I am incredulous that when people contact the HSE, the service provider will say it can give them 21 hours but it does not have anyone to deliver the care.

On 10 August, I had to resort to writing to the Minister, as follows:

Dear Minister, I am contacting you today with what I am sure you will agree are two very urgent and upsetting situations. For me, it is incredibly regrettable that I have to seek intervention directly from the Minister and your Department in both these instances as, for me, such cases as I am representing today should be afforded the immediate delivery of approved hours without excuse or delay. [I will not use the individuals' full names, only initials.]

BW has muscular dystrophy, is incapacitated and a full-time wheelchair user. BW's full-time carer is presently in hospital recovering from major surgery, which has resulted in an emergency situation where BW is now in urgent need of assistance in her home place. BW cannot toilet herself [and] she cannot attend to her own personal hygiene or prepare any meals. She is presently assisted by her sisters, who are both unwell and unable to provide BW with the care she needs. Both BW herself and her sisters have attempted to engage with the PHN [the public health nurse] as well as making direct contact with older persons' services, just to be fed with lame excuses and no resolutions. This lady is an urgent and emergency case, which is being passed from one person to the next, with zero interventions or solutions to providing approved care hours.

I wrote that letter on 10 August. Today is 16 September and it took three weeks for action to be taken.

The other case I wrote to the Minister about concerns a person with the initials PS. I wrote as follows:

PS has a terminal diagnosis which is no longer receptive to treatment. All treatment has now stopped and PS is now seeking to return to her home for comfort measures. Also, a referral has been made to the palliative care team in Wexford to allow PS home. Home care hours are required to assist the family with PS's care. I am sure you will understand that time is not on the side of PS or her family and they are now extremely anxious to get her home. This is an incredibly upsetting and traumatic situation for PS and her husband and family, who now simply want her home to spend what short time is left in the comfort and love of her own home and family. However, she is being denied returning to her own home as approved care hours cannot be delivered due to staff shortages.

These are just two cases. I could go on providing more; the reality is I have instances almost in treble digits of where home care packages are not being delivered. The hours are there but the staff are not there to deliver them. Can somebody, please, tell me what is going on? Do we have the money? I attended a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts today at which HSE representatives were in attendance to account for having spent €81 million - "spent" is a very conservative word - on ventilators we did not receive. How many carers would €81 million train and provide for the people of Ireland who have paid tax all their lives and are trying to get home to die in peace? I want my question answered and I do not want to have to stand up in the Chamber again to ask it.

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