Fad is atáimid inár suí anseo ar maidin, tá naonúr teaghlach de chuid an Lucht Siúil ag dul isteach chuig Comhairle Cathrach na Gaillimhe ag rá go bhfuil siad gan dídean.

Nine Traveller families from Galway who have been living at a dump for the past six months and face eviction tomorrow must declare themselves homeless to Galway City Council because of a failure by local authorities in the west to deal with the crisis in Traveller accommodation. They were in an inappropriate place, which we highlighted previously, with the site's owner being left with no option but to have them evicted. Responsibility for Traveller accommodation lies with local authorities and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Will the Deputy Leader implore her colleague, the Minister in that Department, to enter into negotiations immediately with the Galway city manager to find a temporary resolution for these families? They will be declared homeless and end up on the State's books unless something is done. They have found themselves in a diabolical situation.

I highlight an issue that has arisen in my travels around rural Galway. The home care system has been privatised and the number of home helpers employed by the HSE has dwindled. The race to the bottom in the sector is a major issue. The rates paid to people to work in the companies running the services are too low and finding workers is proving difficult. That people must travel between houses for appointments without being paid travel expenses or for the time they spend travelling means that the work is not worth their while. The fallout has seen older people left in hospitals when they would be able to return home were home care available. People who work in health services in the west tell me that the situation is chronic. It shows the failure of the system's privatisation. There is a myriad of crises in the health sector, but this one needs to be addressed and I call for a debate with the Minister for Health on it. If that is not possible, the concerns we are raising could at least be raised with him in order to see what might be done in the short term. Some patients in the hospital system in Galway cannot return home because home care is not available following the failed privatisation initiative.