Danny Healy-Rae urges funding for carers, wholesalers and Kerry
Danny Healy-Rae spoke in the Dáil on 4 November 2020 about the impact of pandemic measures on wholesalers, carers, people with disabilities and rural infrastructure. He argued current supports and grants are insufficient and demanded targeted funding, restored programs and urgent investment.
Wholesalers excluded from supports
He warned wholesalers supplying hotels, restaurants and the catering industry will not qualify for government packages according to Revenue. Although wholesalers can remain open, they have lost customers and face severe hardship - examples cited include fish suppliers, vegetable and meat suppliers and bakeries.
Funding for carers and home supports
He said the extra $10 million pledged for carers is inadequate and called for more funding for home and respite services. He urged compensation to support carers already overstretched and to fund additional home helps so people can remain at home longer.
Supports for people with disabilities and grants
He raised concerns about suspended supports for people with disabilities, noting the primary care cert has been suspended since the middle of the summer. He also highlighted the scrapping of the Neuwell grant, the need for more housing adaptation grant funding, and the importance of assistance for specially adapted cars and urgent home repairs.
Health services and community beds
He criticised the closure of beds in Killarney District Hospital and other community hospitals and warned those losses will need to be made up elsewhere. He suggested rooms may have to be adapted or hotels rented to ensure sick patients receive necessary care.
Rural infrastructure, water and broadband
He called for funding for a long list of local infrastructure projects - sewer schemes in Kilkommun, Kinmere and Coral, Skatedlin, Castle Island, Bruston and Cahardanel - and reiterated the need for the Killarney Bypass and Ring of Kerry road improvements from Castle Island/Cahardanel to Sneem and Sneem to Blackwater Bridge. He pressed for support for group water schemes, criticised a reduction in the grant for treating water in Wales from £2,200 to £1,000, and asked when a promised £3 billion for broadband over 25 years will arrive, noting many parts of Kerry remain stranded for mobile coverage.
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Thank you very much, Lasko and Cora. The first thing that I have to say to the Minister is in relation to Wholesalers, because they have me asked to highlight the anomaly. Wholesalers to the catering industry won't qualify for any package, Minister. And even though the Government has said they will, according to revenue, they won't. And it's very unfair. Yes, they can stay open, but if they don't have customers, what are they going to do? They can't, as the man said, they can't live on the wind. Fish suppliers, suppliers of vegetables, meat and bakeries who were supplying to hotels and restaurants, they're actually not functioning at all at the present time. Minister, Minister, the money for the carers, the $10 million extra that he said he was dedicated to them is not enough. And for home and respite services at home, because there are no DA services now, we need to compensate and ensure that these carers who are driven into the ground already, already, that they can pay for people to help themselves. The housing adaptation grant is a very welcome part of the local authorities grant system in Kerry, but it needs to be, we need to get more funding for it. And it's to help people who have disabilities who need to adapt their house and there isn't enough to go around for all the applicants that we have for it. The primary care cert for people with disabilities has been suspended since the middle of the summer. And Minister, I'm appealing to you, people with disabilities, again, they're stranded in their homes, people get strokes, you know, elderly people can't move around and they need to adapt their cars, to buy a specially adapted cars to allow them to get out of their homes for certain things. There was a Neuwell grant that used to help people in poor circumstances if something went wrong at their home. That has been scrapped. And it's very unfortunate and it's very unfortunate and it could have a person with a reasonably good house and some work needed to be done to it. That grant is scrapped now. We need more money for home helps and to keep the people at home longer in their homes, to keep them there as long as possible. The closure of beds in Killarney District Hospital and indeed other community hospitals will have to be made up in some other way. If no other way, rooms will have to be adapted or rented in hotels to ensure that people who are sick and who need attention and who need to go into hospital that they're seen after, we can't just tell them not to get sick. Now minister, he said when this pandemic started that it would be different to the recession back 10 or 12 years ago and he said there was funding available at low interest rates and that work would continue and that we would work our way out of this debacle that we're in. So I'm calling for funding for infrastructure projects like the sewer scheme in Kilkommun, Kinmere and Coral, Skatedlin, Castle Island, Bruston and Cahardanel. All these places need work done to their sewerage systems. We don't have any sewerage systems in Skatedlin or Coral. So places like that, we need funding to realise those projects. The Killarney Bypass, I ask again for that, for funding for it. At times Killarney Town can be choked with traffic. The Ring of Kerry Road, a specific improvement grant from Castle Island or Cahardanel to Sneem and from Sneem to Blackwater Bridge. I'm calling for funding for group water schemes and it seems they're in trouble with new red tape and new guidelines and I'm calling for funding for those. He reduced the grant for treating water in Wales from £2,200 to £1,000. We need funding for rural cottages, housing maintenance, tenant purchase scheme, broadband, £3 billion over 25 years. When is the £3 billion going to come? We are stranded for mobile coverage in many parts of Kerry.
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