Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

This is probably the longest debate that we have had on the care of the elderly and how we are to treat them in future that I can remember having taken place in the Dáil. That is an indictment when one considers that all the statistics tell us that we have an aging population. That may have changed slightly in the last five or six years, but the bulk of our population will soon be heading into the elderly bracket. Despite this, the only occasion that we take time to debate this issue is when we put right a grievous wrong perpetrated over almost 30 years. That is an indictment of the Government.

There are several matters regarding this issue that we must discuss. For instance, not one of three Ministers came away from a meeting they all attended questioning the legality of what was taking place. Not one of them has been held to account either. The former senior Minister in the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Martin, has walked away from the issue in such a way that one could almost swear that he had never had anything to do with health. He has left a minefield in his wake. The current Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, was right when he said that he felt that the Department of Health and Children was like Angola. The current Minister for Health and Children, the Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, must surely feel that way given what she has been landed with.

No one can walk away from the blame. It was clearly an issue that was known. The Ministers attended that meeting, yet none of them has said in the House that the matter was raised or spelt out or if it was clear or unclear. We do not know, but the meeting was clearly called to discuss something and was ignored because it was near the time of a general election and the Government cares about nothing other than winning such elections. It will sacrifice everything else as long as it wins the election.

We in this House are discussing for the first time how we treat the elderly. Each of us at our advice centres receives calls every day from daughters, husbands, wives and sisters about an elderly relative who needs full-time care and attention that is not available. I remember, eight or nine years ago, listening to Deputy Sherlock talking about this very issue and that it was illegal to charge elderly people who were in the care of the State and had full eligibility. I am not simply saying that today; I have been saying it for a long time. I remember Deputy Sherlock raising the issue on the Southern Health Board and his being ignored. He and others knew it, but the matter was not to be discussed because no one wanted to deal with it.

Up to last year there were terms in the Irish Examiner such as "bed blockers". The reason there was such a crisis in accident and emergency departments is that we had bed blockers. In the main they were elderly people too sick to go home and with nowhere else to go. The geriatrician in the Southern Health Board region had declared that they were in need of full-time care and attention — the same geriatrician who was on the team that produced the Hanly report. He was very well thought of and clearly an expert in his field. He assessed elderly people and said that they could not go home since they were in need of full-time care and attention. However, none was available from the State. Just as Deputy Sherlock has said, they were handed the subvention forms and told to apply. On top of that, they were given a list of nursing homes and told where beds were available. That is still happening. It is not past history because it occurs today. That is how we still treat the elderly. Exactly that happened to someone today in hospital after an assessment.

When it first arose, being recommended for a subvention of any kind took up to two months. Enhanced subvention at health board level is now taking up to 12 months because the funding has been cut back. We now know who is to be refunded, but to suggest at this late stage that it will be €2,000 per family or per person is premature. We do not know how much it will cost, and people have rights in that respect too. To try out the figure of €2,000, as was provided in the legislation before Christmas, is premature, and the Minister needs some advice on that. That is not how it will pan out. However, those really put to the pin of their collars were those who had to enter private nursing homes that cost €600 or €700 per week and whose families had to try to scrape together what they could. The entire network of family is being put under tremendous pressure to pay it and it continues to happen. We are not talking about history; this is happening now.

We are not putting enough money towards providing places for the elderly. A Government backbencher spoke earlier about the marvellous strides we have made. We have made strides but from a very low base and there is much more to be done. Was that not the slogan during the election — much done, more to do?

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