Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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On the issue of demographics, the Minister said that he will now outline five-year fiscal forecasting in the budget, which Mr. Coffey called for. That is welcome. Some €400 million is provided for demographic issues next year. I am concerned, looking to the future, that we are not providing enough at all for known demographic pressures that are emerging. In health, for example, there is an ageing population with growth in the numbers suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. We know the nature of care is changing. With people living longer, pension coverage is a major issue. Is that an issue IFAC has looked at or intends to look at? It is not a secret that the requests from Departments every year for the following year's budget look for a certain amount of to stand still, with no change in service provision. The additional amount sought, particularly in health, just to stand to still, blows these figures out of the water. Do we have a handle on what the known demographic pressures are and what the costs associated with that are for the budget?