Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank each of the witnesses for the presentations this morning. I come from a rural peninsula, Cork south west, with one of the highest populations of elderly coupled with County Donegal. The vast peninsula stretches to Mizen Head.

We tend to think of elderly as people from age 66 onwards, but there is a large number in the 55 to 66 age bracket, who are falling between two stools and nobody is there for them. They may not be in gainful employment and they might be in a situation where they do not have a welfare payment or find it difficult to quality for a welfare payment and this category face mental health stresses and need a great deal of assistance. This assistance is not there, and I see from my experience in the constituency they are finding it very difficult to survive, pay the electricity bill, put food on the table and do the very basics. We are living in an uncaring society. The human being is like the animal now, tagged with a number, and is no longer the individual, Michael, Linda or Patricia.

We are now just a number and are treated as such. People on welfare are being harassed under the JobPath scheme. They are being frightened out of their homes and forced to travel into towns and villages to meet with officials who promise to secure them employment. They may not have public transport to get to these places and are spending most of the day on the road. They are being dealt with via a company brought in from the UK for that purpose and which has to tick the right boxes to ensure it receives payment for its services. The reality, of course, is there are very few jobs in rural areas. Some of these people were very happy to participate in community employment and Tús schemes, for which they received an additional €20 on top of their welfare payment. Such engagement was good for their mental health but they are now being sent home and frightened out of their wits. It is a vicious circle.

The closure of Garda stations has affected communities throughout the country, including in west Cork. Together with the closure of banks and post offices, there has been a particularly negative impact for elderly people. However, the greatest crisis for older people throughout the country is the poor state of the health service. Indeed, there is no point in saying it is in a bad state; the reality is it has collapsed. Some 900 people are seeking home help provision in County Cork. We have a major crisis on our hands in this regard but the Government does not seem to realise it. The best and cheapest place to look after people is in their own homes. I am getting the run-around in the Dáil when I ask about this and told there is plenty of money available for the home help service and no problem with it all. In fact, the service is in crisis, with 900 people in my county alone unable to access a home help service. All Members are aware of elderly people in their constituencies who are incapacitated but cannot get home help. It is a scandalous situation. The Government is not equipping itself for the future and the rising age profile of our population. People are effectively being thrown to the wolves while Ministers continue to call our bluff in the Dáil, telling us everything is perfect. The best way to deliver a home help service is by hiring local people, but the HSE has seen fit to establish companies which bring in anyone and everyone. Elderly people who require two or three visits a day find there are different people coming to their home, some of whom they have never met before. It is outrageous. The home help service previously offered an employment boost for local people and ensured elderly persons were cared for by staff they were comfortable to have in their home. Why was the decision made to break a system that was working well?

Many young people in rural communities are struggling to secure employment, which can lead to mental health difficulties. There seems to be no intention of securing a future for islanders. There is no strategy for housing on the islands and people are being forced out of their homes. There is a nasty element to what is going on. The rural social scheme promised to provide 500 extra jobs but now the talk is that nobody aged under 25 will qualify.

There are serious concerns about the seniors alert scheme. I understand an ongoing review of the scheme is being carried out by a UK organisation whose chairman is linked to a company which produces alarm devices. I do not know where the Government came up with this lovely scenario where the person carrying out the review already has his fingers in the pie. It looks like we will go down the road of the UK model, which will see elderly people having to pay €160 or €170 a year where it was previously costing them €70 to €80. We can expect to see a lot of alarms being chucked out of houses. On the plus side, in fairness to the HSE, it is funding local community and voluntary organisation to provide meals on wheels and social centres, which are a lifeline for elderly people affected by rural isolation. They can now go out two nights a week for a meal at the local social centre and have meals brought to their home for the remainder of the week. The HSE should be encouraged to push that initiative out because it gives people a social outlet. It might only entail two minutes of interaction with another person but it is vital to them.