Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I beg the Ceann Comhairle's indulgence for a couple of seconds, as I wish to pass on my condolences to Ms Vera Twomey and her family on the death of her daughter, Ava, over the weekend. Vera fought a brave battle for her daughter. Many of us fought that battle with her. She put her blood, sweat and tears into fighting for her daughter's life. Sadly, Ava has passed away. I have stayed good friends with Vera. I was talking to her only two weeks ago. She was in a desperate fight again for her daughter's life at Cork University Hospital, CUH.

The lack of respite services has taken a heavy toll on families caring for relatives with disabilities, exacerbating their struggles during the pandemic. As Covid-19 swept across the nation, respite care facilities closed their doors or scaled back operations to mitigate the risk of infection. Unfortunately, these services have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, leaving families without the vital support they desperately need.

Respite for carers is a significant issue in west Cork. One of my constituents - a single mother with a 14-year-old boy with severe intellectual and physical disabilities who is wheelchair-bound, has to be lifted and carried everywhere and is totally dependent on his mother - has told me that she has not had a full day off in a whole year. She has been pleading for residential respite but has not yet been able to avail of this service. Recently, I mentioned in the Dáil the case of an elderly couple in the Beara area whose son was profoundly disabled, both intellectually and physically, and who had no home support at the weekends. The 69-year-old mother told me that she got €137 per week under the carer's allowance for providing 24-7 care for her son. At weekends, this woman has to employ private help to lift him in and out of bed, change him etc. Those eight hours of help cost her €160. That this woman and her family are left in such a situation is shocking, to say the least.

Obviously, parents love their children but everyone needs a break. Unfortunately, they are not getting one. Requests from elderly parents of adult children with disabilities whom they can no longer care for safely in the home but for whom they cannot get places in long-term residential care are upsetting to hear about. It is shocking to think that our services have come to this. These examples are from my area, but I was in Cork early this morning waiting for a bus to Belfast when a parent from outside my constituency asked whether he could speak to me for a while. He told me that he, his wife and his daughter were trying to care for another daughter for whom they were no longer able to care. He said that no one could help them. He asked whether we could do something. We will always do our best for someone but we are limited in the advice we can give people about what services are available, even in Cork city. He said that he and his family had reached the end of the road and their situation had become a nightmare for them. He said they had got away for a break for one day out of 65 days but that family members were left trying to care for someone for whom they were unable to care. I met this gentleman in Bishopstown Court, but this shocking situation is replicated in Clonakilty, Bandon, Kinsale, Mizen Head, Sheep's Head and the Beara Peninsula.

The whole system has broken down. This motion is on respite care, but I know a double amputee who cannot get home help and cannot leave hospital right now. I meet a lot of people who are looking for home help. We are being told that no home help is available, but when I meet the home help staff who are doing this work in west Cork, they say they would love more hours but are not being given them. A game is being played, yet the system will not be investigated. We are not fools. Most of us politicians have our feet on the ground. We are meeting people and talking to them, including lovely home help staff who are working hard in their communities. They are willing to do more work, but they are not being given any to do, all while genuine people who are seeking home help cannot get any.

There are children waiting four years for occupational therapy. It is one issue after another. Even the private health insurance system is breaking down. I know someone in Bantry who is on the flat of his back and desperately needs an operation. He is paying top dollar for private health insurance, but he has been told that he will have to wait up to six months for his operation. The whole health system seems to be on shaky ground. I do not see anyone standing up and putting forth a solution to these issues. Home help workers are telling us that they are willing to work while the heads of that service say there is no one available to do the work. There are people crying to come home from hospital and there are people at home who are crying in pain. An 81-year-old gentleman on Mizen Head tells me that he wants to get home help before he falls down. If he gets home help now, he hopes to be able to work with the staff and keep his health, but he has been told that he is too sprightly for it and should just keep going because he is all right. If he falls on the ground, he will become a liability to the HSE and a cost to the State, but he would be happy to get a little help now. He pleaded for it but was refused. Many people find themselves in this unfortunate situation. I hope that the lack of respite services for people who are working hard in their homes can be turned around. It is desperately needed.

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