Dáil debates
Tuesday, 26 September 2023
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Care Services
11:40 pm
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I thank the Minister of State for being here a little after 11 p.m. It is heartening to see her here so late to talk about this issue, which she knows is a major problem in my area, the constituency of Cork East. We need to see an enhancement of facilities for the elderly in the east Cork area. The area is growing rapidly. It has a certain characteristic. Unlike many parts of the country, we are lucky to have a beautiful coastline. There are towns in the area to which people come to retire in later life. Youghal in County Cork is an important example of such a town. Those who come to the area are in addition to the thousands of retired people already living across the east Cork area. However, there are no day care services for the elderly in Youghal. I know that the Minister of State's Department and the area in which she has responsibility has been provided with a significant amount of funding to provide such services and facilities. I am here tonight to ask the Department to identify the potential in Youghal for an enhanced service for elderly people, particularly through the provision of a day care service.
We are lucky to have diligent workers in our healthcare settings in Youghal and Midleton, the two primary towns of the east Cork municipal district. I am conscious that there are people who need that support and who may not have the full independence and luxury of being in their own homes, which many people are deeply fortunate to enjoy right up until their passing. Many people have that independence into their 90s. However, we must remember those who need a bit of company and support. They might not have children to look after them. They might not have large families. We must ensure there is wraparound support for them. That is why these services are so vital. It is also worth looking at the areas in which these services are provided. They are fundamentally positive services that the State provides and I have never had a complaint from those who partake of them in other areas where they are available.
The Minister of State, because of her hard work in this area, will be aware of why this is so important. I would like to see some focus on this issue. I know that such a service would have an enormous impact in Youghal. The Minister of State's constituency is just over the border in Waterford, across the Blackwater River from Youghal town. We are looking across at the Déise from Youghal town. There are many people in that area who would benefit from such a service. People in places such as Ardmore, Clashmore and Knockanore, which are areas in the Minister of State's constituency and she serves them well, must travel a greater distance to Dungarvan or Lismore, which are the next closest towns. They are part of the Youghal community. Their children and grandchildren have gone to schools in Youghal and they are part of our wider community despite being in a different county and Dáil constituency. We have a mutual interest that this problem is identified and tackled. From a health infrastructure point of view, Youghal feels a little neglected. I am here tonight to advocate on the town's behalf and to see if this is a matter with which the Minister of State could help.
Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I welcome the opportunity to discuss day centres because they are such an important provision for older people. Almost 300 day centres are currently back in operation. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we did a risk assessment of each day centre the length and breadth of the country to ensure they were complying with infection prevention and control measures. It is great to see that. In the next two weeks, I will be in the Deputy's constituency when I will open the Mallow dementia-specific day centre, which will be the 50th dementia-specific day centre in the country. We have made a lot of progress.
As the Deputy knows, a key focus of our Sláintecare reform programme is recognising the need to enable older people to age well at home and in their communities. In order to do that, I always speak about the triangle of supports we need to provide, which is composed of home care, day care and Meals on Wheels. Those are the three most important things and working in collaboration with each other, they make an important difference to the life of an older person.
There should be no doubt that investment in social care and home support has been a substantial priority for me and the Government. In May this year, I was delighted to announce the allocation of €5.25 million in funding for Meals on Wheels and day centres for older people. In addition, a further €2.1 million was secured for dementia-specific community day services.
There are currently 397 people in the east Cork area in receipt of home support, equating to just over 2,040 hours per week. There are three HSE-funded Meals on Wheels organisations providing more than 1,200 meals to 112 clients per month. There are also three day centres operating in east Cork, as the Deputy knows. Midleton day care is a HSE-operated day centre currently operating Monday to Friday. It provides day care to 98 clients per week. The Alzheimer Society of Ireland operates a dementia-specific day care on Saturdays for up to 12 clients. Cobh day care is currently operating Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. It currently provides day care to 63 clients.
As the Deputy has said, Youghal does not currently have a day centre for older people but plans have been proposed to develop this service for the area.
When I realised recently that Youghal did not have a day service, I was more than surprised. It is a big town with a large catchment area and the nearest day service to it is a full service in Dungarvan, County Waterford, and there is a smaller day service in Cappoquin. In the areas which the Deputy has mentioned in west Waterford and all of the way into Youghal, which is a very significant catchment area, I was surprised to learn there is no day centre there. I want to work with the Deputy to ensure that we can put a service in place because, as I said, it is instrumental to support older people to age in their own homes.
A proposal has been drafted and an order of magnitude cost has been produced for the redevelopment of the St Raphael’s healthcare campus. This proposal includes plans for a day centre to be incorporated into the refurbished main building. My concern, however, is that will take too long. I am not over the detail of the actual building but with the winter coming, I would hope that we might be able to work on a temporary solution while this is being put in place. At this stage, it is not possible to determine a timeline in respect of the establishment of a day centre in Youghal until capital funding has been sanctioned for same. At the same time, while there is a major refurbishment going to proceed at that healthcare campus, I do not believe the people of Youghal should have to wait for a day centre. It is so important and even if one was to start off with a three-day service and build up to five days, that would be very important.
11:50 pm
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I welcome the Minister of State's response and I understand the point she has made on Youghal's population and size and not having these services. This has been a long-standing problem and issue in Youghal. For many years the town has been without Deputies and I am lucky to be the second person elected since the 2011 general election; we also had Deputy McLellan. I am very honoured to be elected for Cork East but coming from Youghal and having that familiarity with the community there, people feel very much abandoned when it comes to infrastructure. It is the end of the road before one goes into a different local authority area in County Waterford. I am heartened that the Minister of State has an understanding and appreciation-----
Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
There is nothing wrong with the Déise either.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
Yes, but as for the county boundary, trying to get that intervention from the State at a local authority level is an issue of continuing concern.
I want to see the Department of Health putting in further focus and examination.
One item of further concern regarding primary care services in Youghal is that a number of plans have been proposed for the St Raphael's site and it is important that something be done with it. It is a State-owned building and it is very lucky to have a very wide, expansive campus there. There was a great deal of hope that it would be the location of the new primary care and acute hospital facility being provided in Youghal but the HSE obviously is looking at it as being an older building and analysing whether it is more appropriate to construct a new facility on a greenfield site. If it is the case that the HSE is no longer interested in operating the older disused building in St Raphael's, not the newer facilities, it should look to releasing the older facilities to other State-owned and State-run facilities in the community.
This should include Gaelscoil Choráin, a wonderful Gaelscoil under the management of Caitríona Ní Riada, our principal there. That is a school which is very tight for space. That is just one small example of a community organisation that could take up use of St. Raphael's if the State thought the old building of the old psychiatric hospital there was no longer fit for purpose for healthcare provision but could be transferred to the use of something else. Extensive modern facilities have been built there and I would like to see whether it is possible to look at that being used for other purposes together with the daycare facilities. That is just one good example of why this site could be used for community purposes once again, having moved on from the style of psychiatric care that is no longer being provided in the country for obvious reasons where our best practices and models have moved on. That facility is very old and rundown.
Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. Every week I see the importance of and the vital role played by community support in helping older people to stay living at home independently and to age in place in their communities. If one speaks to anybody in Ireland, all they want to do is to be able to remain at home for as long as possible. I am very proud of the fact that, being Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people, Ireland has the highest life expectancy in the whole of the EU, as deemed by the World Health Organization. We do the social care model very well. I continue to be committed to working to develop these services to ensure they are available where needed across the country. They are needed in Youghal.
One thing I have always put a focus on since I was appointed Minister of State was the postcode lottery. Day services in a town the size of Youghal in that part of the country are very important because the town has a large catchment area. Even though there are fantastic supports in Midleton and in Cobh; these are too far to travel to for some people.
I would like to see us getting a service up and running as quickly as possible and I want to work with the Deputy on that. I understand that whatever the HSE will propose on that site would be state-of-the-art but my concern is that that will take quite a while. I would like to see an interim solution in the meantime perhaps even, as I noted earlier, starting with three days a week in order that older people living in the Youghal area could have access to a day centre. The day centre is so important post Covid with regard to the amount of loneliness and depression being experienced. People love meeting up with their friends, having the nutritious meal and all the supports that are provided, whether it be music, cards or activities. This is something I am not going to walk away from tonight and I am going to push this very hard. It is very important. There are a few areas I have pinpointed that need day centres and Youghal is one of them.