The following letter was sent on behalf of the Older & Bolder alliance, of which Age & Opportunity is a member, to all Government TDs and Senators. Older & Bolder is calling on everyone who cares about this issue to contact their local public representatives. For more information about Older & Bolder or for help on this campaign, go to olderandbolder.ie or call 01 878 3623. This is the letter:

“A cut is a cut. The cut of €12.5 million to Home Care packages and Home Help services, announced by the HSE on August 30th, has not been reversed.

There is no public support for cuts to services targeted at the most vulnerable groups in our society – children with life-limiting illnesses, people with disabilities, older people with high levels of dependency. Assertions that individuals and families already in receipt of Home Care services will not lose those services in the context of a significant cut to a budget that is already thinly spread do not inspire confidence; nor do those assertions offer any comfort to families now looking for Home Care services for relatives at the point of discharge from acute hospitals or at risk of premature admission to nursing homes.

This cut does not make sense on an economic level or on a human level. Older & Bolder calls on Minister James Reilly to reverse the cut of €12.5 million to Home Care services and, in doing so, to demonstrate the Government’s commitment to protecting the frail old, the sick and the disabled during the current economic crisis.”