Healthcare Provision in Rural Communities: Motion [Private Members] Dail Éireann — 2024-02-21 ============================================================ Pauline Tully (SF), Cavan-Monaghan I think it has been forwarded to the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly's, office as well. This motion also makes reference to the extreme shortage of carers for older people and disabled people. A woman in County Cavan, named Marilyn O'Connor, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease approximately two years ago and the condition has progressed quite rapidly in recent months. She felt compelled to chain herself to HSE headquarters in Monaghan. She fought for a care package. She was finally allocated a sufficient care package but it was not fulfilled. The carers were not there. She was being left for three nights on her own without carers. She does not have the use of her arms or her legs. She said to me, " I did not just do this for myself. I did it for others as well because it is not fair on people who find themselves in this position." We need to see a situation where people with the most need are prioritised for care as this is unfair. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2024-02-21/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:52:42+00:00 Sitting date: 2024-02-21