A 45-year-old disabled Co. Cavan man says he is sick with worry over how he is going to continue paying for a Personal Assistant (PA) as he is still awaiting funding from the HSE.
Damien O’ Reilly from Cresserlough, Co. Cavan has Cerebral Palsy and is in a wheelchair. His speech is also impaired.
He says he requested 24-hour cover in March and had a number of meetings with the HSE over the Summer, and it agreed he had to have round the clock help for health and safety reasons .
However, he says he is continuing to receive just 13 hours cover from the HSE and has to pay for the remaining 11 hours himself
Damien says a
“I keep asking them when they are going to approve the budget; About 6 weeks ago I got a phone call from the HSE saying it was verbally approved but to date I haven’t received any written confirmation of this. I can’t understand why they verbally agreed and then nothing.
Damian says he set up his own company, Independent Living Options’ 17 years ago because there were no other organisations who were providing a personal assistant service in the region.,
“I have a payroll officer and an accountant and my own insurance. The purpose of the company is just to administer my PA service. I’m paying for my PA out of this, but funds are running out. My family has been wonderful and family members have stepped in, but this is unsustainable.
I still haven’t received the payment for December yet from the HSE even though I have to pay my PA . I can’t understand why they are taking so long.
I often wake up a 4:30 in the morning worrying about how I’m going to pay my PA’s. It is really affecting my life. The situation is very stressful and It’s very hard to sleep.
I just want the HSE to honour its commitment to providing me with 24-hour cover, no more , no less”.
Aontú Senator Sarah O’Reilly says
“This is a very difficult situation for Damien. He needs to get the cover he was promised. He obviously needs the round the clock care and the stress he is suffering with over this issue is not fair .I would urge the HSE to meet with him and bring this situation to a satisfactory conclusion for him “
