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- SPORT
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- LIFESTYLE
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Breaking stories
Reilly cuts hours despite vows not to
By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
Under-fire Health Minister James Reilly has significantly cut home help hours since taking office — despite repeated promises before and after the general election the service would not be touched.
Figures revealed by elder support group Age Action Ireland show that since 2008, health service management has slashed home help hours by almost 20%.Almost half of these reductions have occurred since Dr Reilly was appointed minister last year.
Between 2008 and 2011, the number of home help hours provided per year fell from 12.63m to 11.2m — a drop of 1.43m hours.
However, since Fine Gael-Labour came to power in Feb 2011, the number of home help hours provided has slumped at an even faster rate — from 11.2m in 2011 to a planned 10.25m by the end of this year.
This fall includes a 500,000-hour cut earlier this year and a further 450,000-hour cut announced yesterday, under Dr Reilly's tenure.
It has happened despite the Fine Gael TD insisting while in opposition, during his first year in Cabinet, and at the start of this year, that home help must not be cut.
On May 9, 2011, just months into power, Dr Reilly told reporters at the launch of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing: “I will be doing everything we can to ensure that, not alone there are no cuts [to home help], but we get an increase in home care help hours for people.
“That [home help] maintains people at home, giving them dignity and independence and also saving the taxpayer a lot of money.”
While in opposition a year earlier, on May 8, 2011, the under-pressure minister criticised Mary Harney’s plan to cut home hours for people to 7.5 hours a week and restrict time spent on certain help, stating:
“This draft plan is retrograde and flies in the face of what is clearly value for money.”
Dr Reilly again hit the headlines in January this year by ordering the HSE to redraft its service plan for the year as cuts to home help hours — among other services — were too deep.
At the time, a spokesperson for the minister said the cuts were unacceptable as there were already too many people in hospitals and nursing homes — the more expensive long-term care alternative to home help.
In January, Dr Reilly also defended a cut of up to 900 nursing home beds this year by arguing this would give older people the chance of “holistic” care in their home.
However, the worsening financial problems in the HSE have forced Dr Reilly to contradict his repeatedly stated public plans for the vital service.
The 20% cuts to home help hours between 2008 and 2012 occurred despite the number of people officially needing the support falling by just 9% during this period, from 55,366 people to 50,002.
Groups like Age Action Ireland insist this shows the HSE’s financial turmoil is not only closing the door on people in need of care, it is also damaging the standard of care for people who officials agree still need it.
The HSE said the latest €8m home help hours cutback — which was confirmed yesterday after public anger over a marginally bigger €10.6m reduction suggested in September — is needed to help reduce the mammoth €259m health service overspending bill.
* Read more here
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