John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the information he has put on the record of the House. However, I fear the words "shortly" and "soon", as I said back in April. I thought in April that would mean we would have a decision before the recess in July. We are one full year on since the original report was issued by the HSE to the Department. The public in Laois are entitled to clarity and a commitment to Abbeyleix and Shaen community nursing homes, as part of the matrix of caring for our senior citizens.

I agree with the Minister that the best place for senior citizens to be looked after is in their homes. That can only be done if there is also a commitment to the home help service and home help hours. That is where people prefer to be, although in some instances people cannot be looked after by their families in their homes. In such cases, they have to go into hospitals or hospital-type settings, which look after them in a fantastic way, such as in Shaen community nursing home - a high dependency unit and the only one of its kind in the midlands - and in Abbeyleix. It is high time that the HSE and the Department of Health drew a line under this and signalled that they are committed to Abbeyleix and Shaen and stopped dragging the matter out.