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

In my view, elder care is at a very low ebb. As such, I commend Labour on putting forward this motion, which is an important one. It is impossible to get home help for many of my own constituents. People who are trying to get out of hospital cannot get out of hospital. It is a sad situation that they find themselves in, having to stay in hospital before a home care package can be put in place. It leaves them in hospital even though they are able-bodied enough medically to be able to leave, but need help at home that is not available to them. We see situations where they cannot get nursing home beds and community hospital beds. It is impossible for families to get long-term beds for their loved ones.

We have to look at the carer's allowance. The carer's allowance is not a living wage. If it was increased to at least €350 a week, it would enable more families to stay at home and provide full-time for elderly people. I also have a big issue with the fact that the carer's allowance is means-tested. It means that if a husband, as in most cases, has a good income, the wife or partner at home is not able to pick up a carer's allowance even though she is carrying out the duties of a hospital, and saving the State a fortune. Organisations like CoAction in west Cork are unable to provide long-term residential place for their adult service users. Respite for these adults is also difficult to come by. There are so many areas of concern. I spoke to the Minister of State in an angry enough tone in relation to the nursing home in Belgooly. It was closed down last week following the publication of the HIQA report. There has to be a system in place so that if a nursing home or a community hospital for that matter - it is mostly nursing homes we are looking at - does not come up to compliance, the HSE can step in, run that hospital, bring it up to compliance and not shut the door. The Minister of State has no idea what will happened to these people in Belgooly and its surrounds, and they way they were treated. The nursing home was shut in a quick manner and they were told to get the patients out, even though they were told they had six months initially. My time is up.

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