Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have a question for the Taoiseach about a reply I received today to a parliamentary question regarding the winter plan. The winter plan promises 23.62 million home support hours, but the HSE is currently only delivering 11.4 million. This is chronic. To refer to the last question, the hospitals will be full while people cannot get home support. As it faces into the winter plan, at what point is the HSE going to be upfront and deliver this? There are 2,156 people across the country waiting for new or additional home help hours, and 894 are in County Tipperary. Families and carers are getting sick and if that is not dealt with, the hospitals crisis will be much worse. Hospitals are already overcrowded, so what is the point of producing figures if the HSE is not going to deliver? It is very frustrating for people trying to ring and beg and scrounge to get home help hours. Then they are getting sick when they do not have any supports.

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