Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. It looks as if and sounds like progress is being made. I will examine the reply with care, although I do note the stock answer reappeared. My concern is the restriction stems from a bureaucratic or status mindset that insists on a distinction being made between clinical support and normal home care support, as we understand it. The fact that it is deemed to be desirable that there be such clinical support in the home shows an excessive distinction between clinical support and normal home care support is inappropriate and possibly unethical. Part of the clinical support component is the human dimension. Care of the person is or should be incorporated in clinical support. It does not necessarily require advanced training, but it is, nonetheless, a necessary part of clinical support. If we reflect on recent controversies about Holles Street hospital and the way it treated one couple who had lost a child, we really get the sense that sometimes those delivering clinical support are overly separated from the necessary human dimension of the care they are providing. The inloco parentisprovision sends a bad message which perhaps stems from an excessive desire to separate what is a clinical support responsibility from a home care support responsibility. One should be integrated into the other. I hope the new guidelines will make this point clearly and allow for something real and tangible in what the Minister of State described as the carer's break in order that carers will be able to take a break in such circumstances.