Sinn Féin candidate for Dublin South West, Seán Crowe, has said recent figures released to him show that 230 local people in his constituency are now waiting for home help supports. Crowe said this is causing huge hardship to vulnerable people and their families.

Seán Crowe said:

“The last Fine Gael government had a freeze on home help hours since last year and as a result the waiting lists for home help has exploded. 

 “7,881 people are waiting on home help across the State and 230 of them live in the Dublin South West area.

“The situation is getting worse, not better for many vulnerable people. Many people are entitled to home help but they are not getting their hours.

“It’s like a lottery based on where you live and if you’re lucky you can get the care you need. This is wrong.

“The last Fine Gael government wasted huge sums of money on private home help providers instead of putting it into a public home help system. Sinn Féin would do things differently, we want a health system that helps sick people and not to create profit for private companies.

“This area of Dublin has a long home help waiting lists. Our communities and vulnerable sick people should be getting home help hours, but it’s not being given to many people who need it.

“Immediate action is required to ensure that people living in our communities can access care and stay at home or return home if they are able to manage

“A Sinn Féin government would provide home help and home care for these families and for the health service. 

“More beds need to be freed up and not occupied by patients who don’t want to stay in hospital and for the hundreds ready and desperate to return home with home help in place.”

ENDS