Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Darragh O'Brien's amendment to the Order of Business on the home help service. Most Members of the House have been attending meetings. Senator Kelly and I attended a public meeting on Monday night organised by SIPTU in Hannon's Hotel in Roscommon town. We heard from home help workers who are helping and serving many people in the community.

Fianna Fáil has a very proud record in this regard in that we established the home help concept. When I was a member of the health board, home help went from being a voluntary part-time job to being a full-time job, albeit not well paid. Although it is one of the least paid jobs in the HSE services, it provides a vital service. It is galling that in the general election campaign Fine Gael and Labour promised to maintain, develop and expand home help services. It is another broken promise, which we know is a regular event. In this particular regard, there is no reason to cut the amount involved because it is approximately ¤8 million. The Government is now trying to save another 500,000 hours, which just will not work.

One carer was looking after two elderly persons for one and a half hours, and had to change them, prepare them and everything else. They outlined the position. It is pretty galling when they know that so many who have received massive handouts in pensions are getting away without bearing the burden. In the circumstances, I would strongly recommend to my colleagues on the opposite side that they ensure that funding would be restored because they will pay the price at the next general election and local elections. The trouble is the elderly are paying the price. That is the tragedy of the matter.