Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have been contacted by many people in the last few days from counties Cavan and Monaghan in respect of a new charge being introduced for elderly people and those with disabilities availing of facilities laid on by the HSE.The charge is €4 per day return journey to and from the HSE service. While people are not totally against the service per se, they have serious concerns about the lack of consultation and believe this was basically foisted upon them without any debate or forewarning. The measure, unfortunately, will affect the elderly and the most vulnerable in our society, many of whom look forward to attending these services in their local facilities daily. While I say they are not totally against this, they are disappointed that no consultation has taken place. Some of the most vulnerable, including those with disabilities, will find that €4 per day to be a financial burden. The last thing we want is that these people would not be in a financial position to attend the services.

I ask the Leader to bring this to the attention of the Minister to see if a measure could be introduced to help the most vulnerable and those suffering financial hardship so they are free to attend the services as they do currently.