“Proposed drastic cuts in the Home Help Service in Inchicore and Ballyfermot mean vulnerable older people will again face reductions in vital services. And older people having to move from their communities into residential care before they wish or need to; residential care should only be inevitable when the older person needs residential care.”

Age Action has seen a letter from the Ballyfermot & Inchicore Home Help Service Ltd. Announcing ‘drastic cuts’ in the home help service. This proposal coming as it does after the recent decision by Beaumont Hospital to impose a charge on 6 older people in acute beds (€1,365 per week) highlights a dilemma facing many older people and their families. Community services and supports are being cut leaving residential care as the only option open to them. The power under the Fair Deal to charge older people in acute beds should not have been activated until sufficient community services were in place to give older people a fair option. Most older people could and should be allowed to live in their communities for as long as they wish.

Contact: Gerard Scully 087 9682536