Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

The main focus in yesterday's budget was child care. To listen to the earlier contribution of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, one would believe there are no transport problems or only a minor one that will be solved by him through Transport 21. The issue of child care exploded onto the political scene, as far as the Government was concerned, during the by-elections in Meath and Kildare North. For residents there and elsewhere, the problem of child care is as much a matter of paying for it as of getting to see their children. Some parents leave home at 7 a.m. and do not return until 7 p.m.

No Government Members ever ask: "What about the children?" If they made some minor inquiries, they would realise there is now a much greater prevalence of behavioural problems among children. Many are put on medication, the need for which is doubtful. Many of these problems arise in a context where children see very little of their parents. The Government can produce figures of €150 per month and €1,000 per year but the problem is the commuting times that keep parents apart from their young children. In some cases, children believe their minder is a parent because they spend more waking hours with the minder than with their parents. The focus on child care does not take account of the child and the Government is failing completely in this regard. Ministers get a quick glimpse of an idea on the front page of the newspapers and go with that. The focus is unbelievably narrow.

It was first announced in the 2003 budget that excise relief would be given to farmers who grow biofuels, such as oilseed rape, and convert them into oil for vehicles. It was a year and half later, however, before any concessions were made in this regard. This is similar to the decentralisation experience. Developments take place so slowly under this Government that a five-year plan is needed for any initiative. The first year is to announce a scheme and the next four years are taken up with some form of implementation before the next general election takes place.

This time last year, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children announced the ten-point plan for accident and emergency services. There was much fanfare about how she would solve the problems in this area. Some 200,000 doctor-only medical cards were to be introduced along with 30,000 regular cards. This Government has a major credibility problem because it does not deliver on its announcements. It is as if Ministers believe that all that must be done each year is to come out with a new set of announcements and they will be doing a good job.

The Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, is particularly affected by this affliction. If he were to announce in the morning that he plans to drain the River Shannon, many people would find this more credible than his Transport 21 announcement. People no longer believe what the Government says because they are aware of how it wastes money. We have had the PPARS and FISP systems. We have a health strategy that has not been delivered in the most minor way after five years. One could trip over Ministers making daily announcements about broadband. However, the Government has failed to deliver in this regard.

In regard to the health service, only €110 million was announced for the care of older people. We must ask whether this is enough and whether the Government will deliver. I suspect more will be delivered in 2006 for the simple reason that not since 2001 have we seen the Government making an effort on any of these issues. That this is a pre-election year is the only reason we might see something delivered. Nothing has been delivered in the past four years. The €110 million could be divided to cater for the needs of older people living in their own homes and those needing nursing home care.

The Tánaiste's announcement today gives the impression that subvention rates have increased in the nursing home sector but this is not the case. The same rates that have applied since 2001 — between €130 and €190 — will apply next year. The only aspect that has changed is that the means testing is altered slightly. What is important, however, is that average costs of nursing homes, especially in the greater Dublin region, vary between €1,000 and €1,500. The change desired by those who require nursing home care was an increase in rates so that families could more easily avail of private nursing home care. There are very few public nursing home beds and there has been an overall reduction in numbers since 2001.

In her speech the Tánaiste laid great emphasis on the fact that one in three people in nursing homes, both public and private, could stay in their own homes if there were appropriate nursing or home help. It must be a long time since the Tánaiste visited a public nursing home if she believes that one in three patients could return home. The reasons patients are in nursing homes in the first place is that their immobility or illness does not allow them to live at home. The actual cost of private nursing home care is not in line with the pathetically low level of grant assistance.

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