I apologise for handling of Government health cuts- Harris

The Irish Examiner reports Wicklow TD Simon Harris has today apologised for the Government's handling of the latest planned cuts in health services.

After a lengthy cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Health Minister James Reilly said he would order the HSE not to cut the hours of personal care assistants to people with disabilities and find the savings elsewhere.

The controversial cutbacks in spending on home help hours will go ahead, however.

Speaking on East Coast FM's morning show, Deputy Harris was critical of how campaigners were treated.

"I think the last number of days have been handled extremely badly, and for that, as a Government TD, I apologise to all people who have been affected," he said.

"The sight of people having to camp outside Government Buildings and having to wait in the cold for a letter to be issued is really just very upsetting and should never have happened.

"There's also a frustration on my part, as a Fine Gael TD, that I heard about it probably at the same time that you heard about it, and these are the sort of issues I'm going to be raising when I go to the Fine Gael think-in in Mayo next week."