Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the Older and Bolder contribution, Mr. Dolan stated the Government claims there will be no cut in home help hours for those medically assessed. However, the evidence is that this is untrue. Perhaps Mr. Dolan would set out his evidence in this regard. Who is carrying out the medical assessments? Are they being undertaken by a person at a desk or by a caller to the person's home? What is the cost of the assessment? Is it counter-productive? For example, is the cost of carrying out these assessments greater than the amount which will be saved? Also, does this place a further administrative burden on the provision of home help? I have always said that I believe it is counter-productive to leave people with no choice but to go into long-term nursing home care because this places a greater financial burden on the Exchequer and the person concerned, who would probably prefer to remain in his or her home.

On the presentation by the Carers' Association, no reference was made in its opening statement to the length of time carers are waiting for their applications to be processed by the Department of Social Protection. This issue has been raised with me on a number of occasions. Carers are people who are working for their social welfare payment. Many of these people are waiting in excess of nine months to have their applications processed. In many instances, initial applications are being refused, leaving them to engage in a lengthy appeals process. Perhaps Mr. Dunne would indicate the experience of his organisation in this regard and would say if he has any statistics which would back up the claims I make.

Mr. Dunne set out areas where he believes money could be better spent, which is welcome. Perhaps he would enlighten us further in this regard.