Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the people of Kerry who already provide home help and keep people in their homes by their work and efforts. I want to remember the time they worked during Covid. I know many of them personally. Many of them walked the byroads and high roads with me during election campaigns. The message I want to send to them is to thank them from the bottom of my heart. I know the Minister of State also does so and will, during her address at the end of this debate, thank them.

I thank the Regional Group for bringing this important motion before the Dáil. It is important to acknowledge where we are, what we have been doing and the fallings and failings in that. I will give an example. Everybody knows the ever-increasing cost of running a motor car but the unusual thing about home helps is that when they leave their house in the morning and go to take care of their first and second people, they have to move all the time. They are burning petrol, breaking their cars on bad roads and wearing and tearing tyres. Cars deteriorate with use and they use them a lot. Predominantly they are in rural areas. It is important we recognise the need to increase the money home helps are being given. What it costs to keep a person at home is minuscule in comparison with not having a home help call to a person. If the person at home fell and broke a hip, can the Minister of State imagine what it would cost to keep him or her in an acute bed? It would cost €2,000, €3,000 or €4,000 per week. Even if the person were to go into a district hospital, it would cost multiple thousands every week. The amount of money the Minister of State is giving to home helps is small in comparison with what we would pay if we were keeping people in State care. Let us look after the home helps we have, try to encourage more people into the service and make sure people are allocated hours.

I thank the management and home help organisers. We often have debates on services but I thank them for their work in County Kerry. I am talking about the Kerry people and I thank them.

See this speech in context