Home Help/Home Care Action Group Demands the Government and HSE Restore All Home Help Hours Cut This Year
The Home Help/Home Care Action will stage a major march to Dail Eireann on Wednesday 17th October to demand that the Government and HSE immediately cease attacking the elderly, sick and disabled and restore all home help hours and home care packages cut this year.
“There was widespread shock and anger in communities across Ireland when the HSE announced on 30 August last that over 600,000 home help hours were to be cut before the end of the year as this was on top of the savage cut of some 500,000 hours inflicted earlier this year on some of our most vulnerable citizens ” said John Lyons, Home Help/ Home Care Action Group spokesperson.
The shock and anger that the elderly, sick and disabled should be targeted for such vicious cuts has very quickly turned into resistance as Home Help and Home Care workers have begun campaigning to fight this latest round of cuts.
“We’ve held a series of public meetings, staged two successful protests outside Dail Eireann, as well as visiting the Dail Gallery as a delegation to watch the Taoiseach Enda Kenny defend the indefensible – cuts of 1.1 million home help hours in 2012 alone – and on each and every occasion the campaign has demanded the restoration of all home help hours and home care packages cut this year,” Mr. Lyons continued.
“The Government needs to start listening to the people rather than the troika,” Mr. Lyons concluded. Otherwise, they will be faced with a sustained campaign of resistance and protest from communities all over Ireland.”
Home Help & Home Care workers, their friends, families and supporters will assemble at the GPO, O’Connell St Dublin 1 at 3pm on Wednesday 17th October 2012 and will march on Dail Eireann.