On the canvass the cuts made to home help hours is something that is coming up time after time.
The cuts made to home help hours make no sense whatsoever. In some cases people are being allocated only a half an hour per day and that might be to get someone out of bed, to dress them and wash them, get a breakfast for them and put down a fire. No matter how you go about that it would take at least an hour to complete all those tasks. The HSE and the Government have to look seriously at this situation. By doing this work we are keeping people in their own homes where they want to be. We are also keeping these people out of nursing homes which would cost the state five to seven times what is being spent on home help. Home help is actually a cost saving measure and why the HSE are cutting back on home help hours is beyond belief.