Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important matter. Most Deputies and public representatives have a fair amount of involvement and engagement with the elderly and it is right that we discuss their needs here. Before moving on to my substantive points, I want to say one thing. Mention has been made of the disabled person's grant and the essential repairs grant, including delays in processing. Those are within the remit of local authorities. Those opposite who criticise the Government should contact their colleagues on local authorities up and down the country and persuade them to vote money for such grants in the Estimates, which will then be matched by the Government.

I take pride in the fact that in Dublin we decided several years ago to accord priority to the essential repairs grant and the disabled person's grant. I almost collapsed the other day when an applicant came to my office and thanked the staff for encouraging Dublin City Council to turn an application, including occupational therapy assessment, around in three weeks. That does not happen often, but it happens.

I have a criticism regarding occupational therapy reports. People awaiting such a report from the public sector in the city very often have to wait up to a year or even longer. However, if they pay €150 for a private report, in most cases carried out by the same people, they can have that report in three weeks. That ought to be examined. The cost of the occupational therapy report should be recoupable by the applicant, especially if he or she holds a medical card, as is usually the case.

It is estimated that the number of elderly households in Ireland will increase from approximately 440,000 in 2002 to almost 800,000 by 2025. By 2030, more than a quarter of the population will be aged over 65 and, if today's predictions are true, the figure will be even greater. Furthermore, with improvements in health and lifestyle, life expectancy will also increase, with the proportion aged over 75 estimated to increase significantly. With that comes a reduction in informal family care, principally owing to participation in the workforce.

In that context, the Government is working towards a co-ordinated approach of integrated primary care, community health and rehabilitation services. We can pick and choose. Of course, not everything is perfect, but a great deal that is right and good is being done, something that the elderly acknowledge. I will not dwell on social welfare increases as they are only a small part of the picture. However, over the past 12 months there have been reports by such organisations as the Mercer Institute on care of the elderly, especially regarding the long-term funding of continuing care. There has been the O'Shea report and the National Economic and Social Forum has also reported. All these have stressed that well funded services must be delivered in partnership with the elderly, their families and carers, as well as through a range of statutory and non-statutory voluntary and community groups. They have supported the Government's aim to maintain older people in dignity and independence in their homes in accordance with their wishes for as long as possible. They have also highlighted the continuing need for high quality long-term residential care for older people when living at home is no longer possible.

I wish to highlight the Odin's Wood day care centre as a model of good practice. I understand the Minister has had the opportunity to see it for himself. It is a centre which has been developed at Kildonan Road in Finglas with the co-operation of the then Northern Area Health Board and Dublin City Council. It is a good example of a centre to which people with community support needs can come once, twice or thrice a week to have their hair done, engage in some physical and mental exercises, avail of the chiropody services provided or have a meal. We should try to replicate this centre throughout the country.

The voluntary housing organisation, Respond, has developed a centre, again in Finglas, which contains a number of residential units. The level of dependency is stepped, ranging from some people who are completely independent and are able to live on their own to those who are required to live in semi-nursing home care. They share a common room in which caring and medical facilities are provided as well as someone who is available to help them.

The initiatives set out by the Government show its commitment to older people and to putting them at the centre of health policy now and in the future. It is entirely proper that we should devote substantial additional resources to services for older people. They have made an enormous contribution to society and need recognition and reward. Sheltered housing is an extremely important part of any strategy to deal with the care of the elderly. Most older people prefer to live in their own homes and consequently, the fixtures mentioned by Deputy McGuinness, such as alarms for the elderly, grab-rails, stair lifts and so on, should be made available without all the fuss and bother that many people are obliged to endure at present.

However, when the elderly are no longer able to remain at home, it is important that the option of sheltered housing is available. Many local authorities have gone down that route with the help of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and much pioneering work has been done by Dublin City Council. For example, older people who own their homes are able to sell them to the council and to make a contribution of between a third and a fifth, depending on their age, towards getting high quality accommodation in which they can live with the support of many other community agencies. I have seen some very good models of practice in Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland and I urge other local authorities to go down the road taken by Dublin City Council, whereby services like general practitioner support and meals are available.

Some years ago, I saw a good centre of excellence for the elderly in Summerhill, County Meath, and copied the idea. A report which was drawn up by the Finglas-Cabra partnership on the needs of older people in the Finglas area identified the need for a centre of excellence for older people in which there would be a mix of residential, social and medical facilities available in a single site. The centre will accommodate 45 units in a residential setting with some units having more than one person living in them. When its services are integrated with those available from the Odin's Wood day care centre across the road, it will become an important driver of services for the elderly in the Finglas area.

Advocacy by older people is very important and a number of significant groups are active. I will mention two of them. I draw attention to the Senior Help Line for which an 1850 number is available, although I cannot remember the exact number. This useful service is delivered by a woman in Summerhill, County Meath, and is available in different parts of the country. I compliment groups such as Age Action Ireland. I also have a soft spot for the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament. We need such groups and it is important that they form part of the advocacy process. I am glad to see that the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, Age Action Ireland and a number of other organisations are participating as part of the voluntary and community pillar at the partnership talks which are under way at Government Buildings at present. Our policies must reflect the desires of organisations such as the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament.

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