Home help hours in Mayo have been reduced by 40,000 hours in the past three years, according to Mayo Fine Gael TD, John O’Mahony following information received in a response to a question tabled by him in the Dáil. In 2007 and 2008, Mayo people were receiving 460,000 hours of home help but the figure was reduced by 10,000 hours in 2009. However the most drastic reduction has been in the last 12 months when another 30,000 hours were taken away, leaving just 420,000 hours of home help available to Mayo people.
“This is an example of how front line services are being hit by the cut backs to the health service,” the Fine Gael TD said of the cuts. “In the majority of cases, home help is provided to some of the most vulnerable people in our society, elderly people and those who are confined to their homes. Home help isn’t just about someone calling in to a house and carrying out some practical duties. The person doing the home help provides a social contact for the elderly person that is absolutely vital. But the cutback in the hours has meant that this contact is reduced to the minimum, or in some cases, cut altogether. It’s a terrible way to treat people and this is an awful indictment of a Government of this country that assured us it would care for its elderly. But this is the opposite to caring, in fact it’s a betrayal of people and it’s something they should be deeply ashamed of.”
