PROTESTERS MARCHED TO the Dáil today over cuts to home help services for elderly, sick and disabled people.

The demonstrators walked from the GPO on Dublin’s O’Connell Street to Kildare Street to ask the government and the HSE to reverse the cuts to home help hours.

The HSE has said it wants to cut around €8 million from the budget for home help between now and the end of the year, which will be equivalent to around 450,000 hours of service over two and a half months. A further 500,000 home help hours were already cut at the start of the year.

John Lyons of the Home Help/Home Care Action Group which organised the march said that the cuts threaten the welfare of some of the most vulnerable people in the country.

“We should be looking to increase the hours of home help so as to meet the needs of our elderly and disabled citizens rather than constantly attacking what is a critical care service,” he said.