Home-help workers are to march in the Taoiseach's hometown of Castlebar, in County Mayo at 1.30pm this afternoon appealing to the Government to reverse a decision to cut the allocation of home-help hours.

Trade Union SIPTU says older people and their families have already been badly affected by this year's cut of 500,000 hours in home-help services.

It's warning that plans to further cut 600,000 care-hours will have an expensive knock-on effect for the State when older people are forced into nursing homes.

SIPTU Organiser Martin O'Rourke said it made no financial sense for the State to further reduce the home-help service.