Danny Healy-Rae: Families Left Without Promised Home Care Visits
Danny Healy-Rae spoke in the chamber about failures in home care provision, saying many people allocated home help do not receive the promised visits. He relayed a detailed case of a mother caring for a daughter with an acquired brain injury and demanded action over the shortfall.
The speaker described a mother who has cared for her daughter for about 35 years after the daughter suffered an acquired brain injury and several strokes. He said the daughter is now speechless and has complex needs, the house is specially fitted with a hoist, and the mother has become ill while continuing to provide care.
He said the family were promised three visits of two people each day but are receiving only one person once a day. He emphasised the gap between allocations of home care and the actual provision of home help, calling the situation unfair to the family involved.
The speaker blamed the HSE for the failure to deliver allocated home help and questioned why the HSE does not have the staff to meet needs. He asked why the HSE cannot "imply contact workers" and said he cannot understand the staffing shortfall.
He explicitly said he was not blaming the Minister and demanded that facts be addressed rather than producing "glossy magazines or reports". He said the issue must be seen to and that something has to be done to stop the practice of allocating care that does not arrive.
The speaker noted he has raised similar cases going back two years for several different people and stressed the human impact - that carers are now sick and may no longer be able to provide essential 24-hour care without the promised visits. He pressed for immediate attention to the service gaps in home care and home help provision.
Specific case cited
The speaker described a mother who has cared for her daughter for about 35 years after the daughter suffered an acquired brain injury and several strokes. He said the daughter is now speechless and has complex needs, the house is specially fitted with a hoist, and the mother has become ill while continuing to provide care.
Alleged shortfall in allocated services
He said the family were promised three visits of two people each day but are receiving only one person once a day. He emphasised the gap between allocations of home care and the actual provision of home help, calling the situation unfair to the family involved.
Concerns about HSE staffing
The speaker blamed the HSE for the failure to deliver allocated home help and questioned why the HSE does not have the staff to meet needs. He asked why the HSE cannot "imply contact workers" and said he cannot understand the staffing shortfall.
Responsibility and rejection of reports
He explicitly said he was not blaming the Minister and demanded that facts be addressed rather than producing "glossy magazines or reports". He said the issue must be seen to and that something has to be done to stop the practice of allocating care that does not arrive.
Ongoing advocacy and wider impact
The speaker noted he has raised similar cases going back two years for several different people and stressed the human impact - that carers are now sick and may no longer be able to provide essential 24-hour care without the promised visits. He pressed for immediate attention to the service gaps in home care and home help provision.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Other speeches
Tego samego dnia All speeches from this day →
Brendan Smith
Brendan Smith presses for government investment in student housing
Paul Murphy
Paul Murphy blasts 'shameful' neglect of student accommodation
Richard O'Donoghue
Richard O'Donoghue urges ministers to coordinate on special needs
Joe O'Reilly
Joe O'Reilly: Insurers' 'economic decision' forces shopkeepers to settle
Carol Nolan
Carol Nolan backs task force to speed special schools delivery
Brian Stanley
Brian Stanley: Calls to Cut Autism Waiting Lists and Fix Transport Access
Transcript
And look, what I have to say to you, Minister, is so many people are allocated, people with disabilities, allocated home care, home help, and even though they're allocated, the home help never turns up, or at least not the amount of it that's supposed to be given to people. I have a case of a mother and a daughter. The mother is minding the daughter for the last 35 years, thereabout. The daughter got an acquired brain injury, and she got strokes and several things now, and she's speechless, and she has so many different problems. The house is fitted out, there's no home anywhere fitted out like it's fitted out to care for this girl. The mother is now sick. She was promised three visits of two people each day, and there's only one person coming out once a day, and she's sick herself. And this is not fair. And if the HSE don't have the staff, and I can't understand why they haven't them, because I've dis-highlighted now going back two years for several different people, why can't they imply contact workers? This poor mother, over 70 years of age now, and all of that I didn't ask her, I know she wanted me to mention her here in the chamber, but I wanted her full authority. Because she's suffering, and she has suffered with the last 35 years or so seeing after this daughter. And now, when she can't see after herself, and she won't be able to, she needed the three visits each day of two people, there's a hoist and everything involved to get her out of bed, and to put her into bed, and those little things, and then manage the rest herself within the 24 hours of the day. But this is not fair. Giving them an allocation, and no one turning up. I'm sick of it now, Minister. I'm not blaming you, I'm blaming the HSE, but something will have to be done about it, and it's time to stop. I don't want these glossy magazines or reports or anything. The facts are there, and he knows, and they must be seen after. Definitely, yeah. Definitely. . . . . . . . . . . . . .