Home help hours are not being fully used says Cllr

CORK South-West Dáil candidate Margaret Murphy O’Mahony has said it is completely unacceptable that allocated home help hours in West Cork are not being utilised.

Cllr Murphy O’Mahony is concerned that 5,500 hours allocated for use in Bandon, Kinsale, Clonakilty, Skibbereen and Bantry were not allocated, according to figures released to Fianna Fáil.

Margaret commented: ‘These are extremely important supports, the funding has been put in place, the targeted allocation is there and still the number of hours supporting families and older people in West Cork is over 5% off target at the end of April.’

Figures released to Fianna Fáil show there was a target of 104,000 Home Help Hours to be allocated by the end of April in the West Cork area, which covers towns from Bantry to Bandon but the number of hours that were in place was 98,500.  This is 5.3% below target.  ‘That may seem like a small percentage but that would make a huge difference to families across west Cork,’ said Cllr Murphy O’Mahony.

‘Separately, I’m concerned that the number of Home Care Packages (HCP) is also behind target in West Cork. These packages are tailored to people’s specific needs and are in place to help people who need medium to high support to continue to live at home independently.’ 

The packages often include nurses and various therapies including physiotherapy and occupational therapy services, she said.

‘In West Cork the number of Home Care Packages in place by the end of April this year was 1,360, 110 behind target,’ she continued.

‘It’s extremely important the HSE is maximising the roll out of these packages to support dignity and independence for people living with illness or disability.’