Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I second the amendment to the Order of Business. What we witnessed on our television screens last night was very sad and heart-breaking for those watching. We must assist relatives who look after the people they love in their home environment and providing home care packages is one way to do this. They cost a fraction of what it would cost to put people in nursing homes. For the HSE and the Department of Health and Children to say they are providing for thousands of extra home care hours is absolutely meaningless for people who are struggling to assist their relatives on a daily basis. It is despicable to hear the HSE is now talking about placing time limits on a person having a shower, dressing in the morning or having breakfast in the context of home care hours. What kind of country are we living in in discussing these time limitations? The elderly and people who are not so old - as we saw on last night's television programme, people who are young suffer from Alzheimer's disease - above all else, deserve to be treated with dignity, as do the people looking after them. As we saw on last night's television programme, carers who look after their relatives are physically and mentally shattered. Hiding behind the HSE is convenient, as is saying it is not our problem. If there are problems in the HSE, they must be rectified. It is not good enough for Government Senators to state the HSE should be shut down or that we should do something about it. They are in government and should go ahead and do something if change is necessary. What are they doing talking about it because that is all they are doing? In the meantime, elderly people are suffering in their homes, as are their carers.