Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Darragh O'Brien's call for a debate on the cuts to home help services. We have made representations on this matter. As well as debating the issue of cutting the hours of care given to vulnerable people, we should debate the effect on the home help workers. They are the only HSE workers who are not being given their contracted hours. Their livelihood is being cut to ribbons and this should be debated. The acting Leader will say the Minister will come to the House on a certain date but when he or she attends it is usually to take a Bill or to address a specific issue and we cannot raise the issues we need to raise. I call for statements with the Minister for Health during which we can raise a number of issues about which we have concerns. In particular, I would like to raise the issue of the HSE rule to have paramedics and ambulance drivers working 12-hour shifts following which they must remain on call for another 12 hours. We had evidence of how dangerous that is when an ambulance driver fell asleep at the wheel in Castletownbere recently having worked continuously for 22 hours.

In Castletownbere, a week ago or so, an ambulance driver fell asleep at the wheel after having worked continuously for 22 hours. It is not good enough and people cannot work that long. I would like the Minister to address the issue.