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Home Helps & Care Workers To Welcome Politicians Back From Holiday with protest printable version

14 Sep 2012: posted by the editor - Ireland

new low in Irish politics reached
On Tuesday 18 September at 6pm on Home Help workers, clients, supporters and campaigners will protest outside Dail Eireann to highlight the recent despicable decision by Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the HSE to savagely cut 600,000 home help hours and up to 800 home care packages and to demand that these cuts be immediately reversed.

Speaking ahead of the protest, Home Care Community Action Group spokesperson John Lyons, said: "We've seen the true face of austerity this past month, the supposed "silly season", according to the Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Fine Gael and Labour, under pressure from their ‘troika’ paymasters to reduce the health budget, decided to target those in our community dependent upon personal assistants and home helps, that is the disabled, children with life-limiting illnesses and the elderly. A new low in Irish politics was reached. Shameful.”

The rapid reversal by Minister for Health James Reilly and the HSE of the proposed cut of over 400,000 Personal Assistant hours was welcome and showed the power of protest; the cuts to home help hours and home care packages, however, were not reversed, and if implemented, will once again severely hit the pay and working conditions of home help workers and will lead to a massive deterioration of the vital service they provide to some of our most vulnerable citizens.

John Lyons said: "The home care sector has already experienced a drastic reduction this year of some 500,000 home help hours; to once again decide to attack this caring service in order to please the troika with their austerity demands shows that our elected politicians care little for its citizens and a lot for their political masters. The supposed savings from the cuts to home help hours and home care packages will amount to € 12.5 million. Contrast that with the fact that on 1st October many, many multiples of that “saving” will be squandered as the government place €1 billion into the bank accounts of senior unsecured bondholders in AIB.

Paying off bondholders whilst implementing cuts that will have such devasting impacts upon the lives of so many of our most vulnerable citizens? It is utter madness and must be resisted. The cuts to home help hours and home care packages must be reversed.”

The protest action is being called by the Home Care Community Action Group.

Tags: Home Care Community Action Group, Home Help, Home Care

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