Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On 26 April, I emailed the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to bring to her attention the case of a 44-year-old woman in my constituency who has multiple sclerosis, MS, and is a wheelchair user. She had to go into a nursing home due to the lack of home care. She is 44. I am older than this woman and I am nowhere near ready for a nursing home. It is demeaning, dehumanising and not the right way to treat people. Likewise, there are twins living in my constituency who are almost 18. Both are wheelchair users and both have been allocated home care. It is hit and miss every week as to how much care is delivered. One of them now needs to go into hospital for an operation, but that cannot happen yet because the doctor will not sanction a release unless the requisite home care can be provided and there is no guarantee that it will. Both families believe that Home Care Direct might be able to be part of the solution, but it would seem that the negotiations are going nowhere. Can I please get an update as to when we will have sustainable home care for people in north County Dublin?

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