Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this extremely important legislation. It is about the charging of residents of public nursing homes up to 80% of their pensions for long-term care and provides for the introduction of doctor-only medical cards for 200,000 on low incomes. This issue was a fiasco from the start, and all major political parties must take responsibility as it happened on their watch. It is a disgrace and now we have rushed legislation to dock 80% of the old age pension. Most people do not mind making a contribution, but 80% is a scandal and a rip-off of the elderly who have served this nation well over the years. It is cheapskate politics and lacks compassion and care for the elderly.

I challenge the role of the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, regarding the issue. He was present at the crucial meeting in December 2003 when the issue of illegal health charges was discussed. He was Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children with responsibility for the elderly at that time. Why did he stay silent? What did he know? What did he do about it? What illegal advice was he given? It happened under his watch as Minister of State. If he has a few minutes, after being down in the Port tunnel, which has caused damage to 185 homes under his new watch, perhaps he will explain why he turned his back on the elderly over the past 12 months.

Let us look at the Minister of State's record on the elderly while he was in office. During his reign, approximately 440,000, or 11% of the State's population, were over 65 years of age. Of these, approximately 266,000 were over the age of 70 and one third of these lived on their own. Some 25,000 elderly people were in long-stay beds or nursing homes and a further 13,000 needed high to maximum dependency care and continued to live at home.

It is the wish of the majority of elderly people to receive care at home or in the community, a concept which I support. Many families of the elderly make sacrifices to provide the best possible care. The inadequacy of the nursing home subvention causes great hardship for many families, as do the cuts in home help carried out under the Minister of State's term in office. The failure to abolish the means test for the carer's allowance is a further attack on the most vulnerable in our society. Day care centres serving the elderly and disadvantaged communities were grossly under-resourced under the Minister of State's watch.

The Government must immediately put in place adequate resources and a comprehensive infrastructure for care of the elderly. This is the Minister of State's record, and he is at it again. This is not a personal attack, it is a political attack. He should get the boot for his record and he should bring the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, with him.

I support Deputy Connolly's position on a moratorium on the withdrawal of the medical card for existing card holders. We must also look at marginal cases who will get the doctor-only card and clarify the legal position regarding medical card holders in private nursing homes. In terms of money owed, £1 in 1976 is now worth €9.36. That is the reality and the Government must not to be stingy to our elderly. It is pay-back time, and time to give our elderly maximum care and support.

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