John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise that I had to leave the meeting for a couple of minutes, but I have read all the opening statements. I thank both organisations for coming before the committee. It is very useful. I agree completely with what both are seeking in the budget.

It is pure and utter discrimination against our young unemployed citizens under 26 years. I was interested to listen to Deputy O'Dea talk about this policy which his party initiated and which has continued since. It is interesting to hear what appears to be a rowing back on that policy which was instigated by Fianna Fáil. It is a purely ideological position to preside over this discrimination. When the Taoiseach was Minister for Social Protection, he appeared before the committee prior to a budget when I challenged him on it.

He said that it always baffled him how young foreign people travelling to these shores could get off an airplane and get a job straight away and that that raised questions about young Irish unemployed people. That sort of flippant comment exposes the ideological position behind this. There is a mindset that our young people are lazy, laying about, do not want to get out of bed and do not want to go to work. That is completely untrue. Our young people are as ambitious as anybody. They want to be engaged in employment. There are concerns about low pay, precarious employment and so on. Young people want to work but the Taoiseach took that ideological position.

My party produces its alternative budgets and over the last number of budgets, we have incorporated a complete reversal of this policy. I know what Crosscare is saying, in that it is targeting different groups. We would go beyond that. Looking at homelessness and the 903 people in the category who are only availing of emergency accommodation, I think there are many thousands of young people who cannot even access emergency accommodation who do not make it into those figures. In my constituency, anybody in that age category who presents looking for emergency accommodation has the shutters pulled down on them straight away. They are not included in that group of 903. A person has to show that he or she has a housing need to avail of emergency accommodation. There is a policy where someone comes and checks the family home, and if there is a spare bedroom, that will disqualify someone from availing of access to the social housing list. People are forced against their will in many cases to remain in the family home, since the current system does not take on board their personal and individual circumstances. They do not appear in that category but they are expected to live on a reduced payment. Unfortunately, over the last budgets, we have seen that gap widen with €5 for all except for young unemployed people. The gap is getting wider and wider.

We would like to see this restoration for young people go further. I met with St. Vincent de Paul yesterday. We know the fantastic work that it does, like all groups that look after some of the most vulnerable people in the State. One of its requests is the reversal of this discriminatory policy. I welcome the campaign and the focus being put on the issue. Some very reputable organisations are working with vulnerable people. It is important that this message is listened to by Government but unfortunately if the mindset and ideological position of the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, continue, it will be a battle to change this. The witnesses have my total support and that of my party. The campaign has to continue. The current situation forces people into precarious situations. It does not take into account their mental state or personal circumstances. It forces people into homelessness. All the statistics show that.

I welcome Mr. Mark Byrne and Mr. Brendan Lennon from Chime. I met Mr. Lennon previously and was blown away by many of the facts that he presented to me. I did not see the correlation between hearing and dementia. Could the witnesses address that now? Not only are people forced into social isolation through no fault of their own because of the costs incurred for getting hearing aids, but that social isolation has an impact on the individual, including causing the early onset of dementia, which I was blown away by. We know the cost and the grant of €500 per hearing aid that is available. Apart from costs, are there any other reasons someone might not want to go to get a hearing aid or to get tested? How long do people typically delay in addressing hearing problems? In my experience, I know people who put off getting their hearing checked for a long time when it was clear that there were serious issues. I do not know whether it was due to denial or financial issues. When they ultimately got hearing aids, it was a life changer. In the witnesses' experience, are there other reasons and what is the typical delay?

I have asked the Minister many questions about the inadequate amount available for hearing aids under the treatment benefit scheme because it ultimately has to be increased. The Minister stated that her Department regularly reviews the variety of devices and price ranges on the market to ensure that the grant amount reflects the cost of hearing aids. Would the witnesses like to comment on that? If the Minister was constantly monitoring and reviewing it, then surely she would see the common sense of increasing the amount available. I welcome the expression of interest from the Minister's office in meeting the witnesses towards the end of August. Maybe that shows the power of this committee. I am sure the Minister was acutely aware that the witnesses were coming in today. Maybe that was down to the work of this committee and some pressure that may be put on the Minister. That is welcome. I thank the witnesses for attending.