Tony Gregory (Dublin Central, Independent)

This motion deals with the failure of the State to adequately provide for care of the vulnerable elderly, particularly those in disadvantaged communities. I focus on the services provided by day care centres and the home help service as these are, to a significant degree, the two main community-based services for the elderly in the north inner city area I represent.

By coincidence, earlier this afternoon I attended the annual general meeting of the Lourdes Day Care Centre in Sean McDermott Street, which provides for the needs of very disadvantaged elderly people. The centre has been 25 years in existence and it is a great tribute to the voluntary committee that has kept it going despite a litany of cutbacks in the past year. Cuts in funding for the home help service caused chaos in the centre last year while cuts in the community employment scheme meant a loss of part-time workers which almost forced the centre to close down.

This care centre for the elderly, in the heart of one of the bleakest urban inner centre areas, survives not on State funding but through weekly lotteries, raffles, appeals and donations as well as the selfless commitment of a small group of voluntary workers. They barely make their running costs and the centre operates at a deficit, making do with equipment which has been in the centre since it opened 25 years ago. There are no funds to decorate or paint the place.

In the run-up to the last general election those in the centre were told that all that would change. They were to get a brand new building which would provide a modern facility for the elderly and, with numbers continually on the increase, this seemed heaven-sent as the small centre was finding it hard to cope. The new building was to be part of the RAPID programme and the area action plan for the north-east inner city. It was guaranteed and stamped with approval by the Taoiseach's office.

The election came and went and with it the fraudulent RAPID programme. Nothing further has been heard of the new, desperately needed centre. That was the report given today at the annual general meeting, as elderly people listened, many of them in wheelchairs. They are being cared for in the community, which saves the State the huge costs of long-stay residential care. That is how the most vulnerable of our elderly are treated by the Government.

I will refer briefly to two other local services in the north inner city to demonstrate the disgraceful inadequacy of State supports and the State's dismal failure to meet its responsibilities to the elderly. The East Wall Day Care Centre provides meals for senior citizens. It has no full-time staff but depends on its volunteers and three FÁS trainees to maintain its service, which operates five days a week. On average approximately 1,500 meals are provided each month and the only source of State funding is from the Northern Area Health Board, which provides — wait for it —€1.27 per meal, paid in arrears on a monthly basis. The senior citizens pay €2 per meal. This total, €3.27 per meal, is expected to cover all running costs, insurance costs of €18,000 per year, heating and lighting costs of €8,000 to €10,000 per year and fixed costs such as telephone repairs plus the cost of the food.

It is impossible to operate the service without fundraising and it is not surprising that the centre, in spite of using services such as the local food bank, operates at a deficit. The main limiting factor is the miserable fixed rate of €1.27 per meal, which prevents long-term, sustainable staffing options being pursued. How can any voluntary group plan and develop the services of a day care centre on that basis? I hope the Minister answers that question.

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