Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)

There is no doubt that everyone has come into the Chamber to talk about the RTÉ programme. As a daughter who had a father in residential care, and as a sister who has a 55-year old brother in residential care with Lewy body syndrome, I actually could not watch the programme. Like many people who have a parent or a member of the family in residential care, we are often overridden by guilt. Even when it is the best option for our loved ones, we often wonder whether it is the best solution or whether we could have done something more, such as getting more support at home or pulling an extra hour or two out of the day in order to help them stay at home. I missed the programme on the first evening and avoided watching it thereafter. I find it difficult to go to visit my brother. I had the opportunity to listen to the son of that gentleman in the RTÉ programme. He voiced so many concerns that I, my family members and so many other people think about every day when you have a person in a nursing home. What was on the paperwork did not match up to the actual care happening on a day-to-day basis. It caused me to reflect.

The Minister of State and I have spoken on this issue several times. As a former councillor and a TD, I am passionate that we find a system to the equivalent of the fair deal scheme which will allow our parents and loved ones to stay in their homes for as long as they possibly can and, hopefully, until the end of their days. This is fundamental. The statistics and facts back it up. The longer we can keep our loved ones in their home, the better they are for it. We, as loved ones, are the better for it as well. They are healthier, more mobile, and more stimulated. All the things a family can give to a loved one is missing in a nursing home, no matter how good it is. I urge that we find a system to keep our loved ones in the home. I urge the Minister of State to bring that about. I know he is working on a similar fair deal scheme to keep people in the home. It cannot be that difficult. I am a great believer that where there is a will, there is a way. We can and must do this. We cannot be here again in one year or in five years talking about another “RTÉ Investigates” programme because this is not the first time. We know that during Covid there were plenty of issues in nursing homes in County Louth. The Minister of State will be well aware of those issues. There are still questions to be answered.

We also must take care of rural areas in particular. I come from a rural area in County Louth. We have to find a fair deal scheme that is fair to farmers which allows them to have a better access to the actual scheme. We also have to look at the carers because the carers often provide an invaluable service. They do not become a carer but rather a friend to the family and to the person they are talking care of.

Unfortunately, a bad road, pothole or laneway can mean the carers cannot get there because of the conditions of the road. Many of these carers are not paid appropriately. They do not get car allowances to do the mileage to go down country roads. Very often, simply because it takes longer for them to get there and back, they do not want to go to the rural areas because they can do three or four calls in the same time it takes to do one call in a rural area. We need to revisit what we are doing for the carers who have such a responsibility towards our loved ones. I ask the Minister of State to review that too.

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