Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

I wish to share time with Deputies Ó Caoláin and Connolly. I speak on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Gormley, the health spokesperson of the Green Party, Comhaontas Glas, who has raised the issue of conditions in nursing homes and patient care for many years. He has called for more emphasis on community care, an issue I will return to.

My party welcomes the provision of the Supplementary Estimate; that principle is established. We are concerned, however, about the wider implication in terms of the delay, the fact the President had to determine the position for the people, and the principle now established of elderly people having to pay for their own care. That is wrong. I have said previously in the House that whatever about the measures being put in place to pay for the money stolen in the past, there is a wider problem in terms of what happens in the future. I will not go into that now because my time is limited.

My colleague, Deputy Gormley, asked me to raise a number of issues, one of which is community care, which he described to me yesterday as being in a shambles. I am aware of that also in my constituency. The position appears to be that one hand of bureaucracy does not necessarily know what the other is doing. There is no co-ordination. For example, a relative of an elderly patient who is in need of some community care was told she would have to wait up to four years before she could be assessed by an occupational therapist to determine if she would qualify to apply for a grant to install a shower. Thankfully, that case was sorted out fairly quickly. We found out that if the person is over 80 the waiting list is a year, not four years. This individual, miraculously, found out that she would be served within five or six weeks. I am delighted the highlighting of that issue helped in some small way but there are similar cases throughout the country where a lack of funding and targeted resources are affecting elderly people, no more so than in nursing homes.

The need for an independent inspectorate for public nursing homes was raised earlier by Deputy McManus. There is little point in informing a nursing home that it is about to be inspected because everything will be ship shape during that period, only to return to its normal way of operating following the inspection.

I was invited to a particular nursing home to meet and talk to the constituents living in the home. It was a very nice day. The residents of the nursing home enjoyed the visit but when it came to following up on the visit I found, from examining the marked register, that not one of the residents had voted. I suggest that is because the proprietors of the nursing home were more interested in the photo-shoots and the publicity surrounding the visit of a candidate but when it came to putting their money where their mouth is, they did not bother arranging for a bus to bring the residents to vote. That is just one example of the sort of treatment residents are subjected to in some nursing homes.

We need more, smaller, community orientated facilities. I acknowledge the role the Government has played in some situations but to reiterate on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Gormley, there is not sufficient funding. The available funding is not being targeted in the right areas. There is not enough co-operation among various sections within the Department of Health and Children and also in terms of the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs. I have more comments to make but as the time is limited I will pass to my colleague.

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