Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I support the amendment in respect of the definition of the Dublin area. The Bill sets a ceiling of €300,000 and above on the value of a principal residence outside the Dublin area. An article in the Irish Examiner on 26 October stated the cost of housing in the greater Dublin area, including counties Kildare, home to the Minister of State and me, Louth, Meath and Wicklow, bucked the trend for house prices to ease off. Instead they had increased by 14%. If the average cost of a house in Dublin is €419,000 and the greater Dublin area extends to the counties I have named, will the Minister of State accept that it is necessary to reconsider that section of the Bill and agree to the amendment? These counties form a commuter belt for people working in Dublin because of their proximity to the city. There is no obvious reason not to accept that they form part of the greater Dublin area in the context of house prices.

The Minister of State has said the Bill is intended to provide in legislation for the decision made in 1993. There will be no further legislation on this matter for some time and many families will suffer as a result. If the newspapers report a percentage rise in house prices in clearly defined areas, it is difficult to understand why we cannot agree that the definition of the Dublin area should be extended to include the greater Dublin area. One could then reflect on including the four local authorities in the four named counties. I have heard no one say the prices mentioned in the report are out of line with reality. The Bill will affect a senior citizen who owns such a house. If, under the legislation, the Department does not recognise a senior citizen who owns a house in this area, that person's home will be sold over his or her head. There should be no problem in accepting the amendment because there is a definite line around the counties to which I refer. The figures are available at the press of a button to show how the commuter belt affects them.

I do not see how the Minister of State can refuse to accept the amendment. He was under pressure on Committee Stage to resolve this matter but refused to accept the amendment. On occasions when I have discussed the Bill with him he has told me it is not the "be all and end all" of a Bill but that some changes have been made. This is one change he must accept. He should agree to consider this aspect of the Bill and recognise that it threatens family homes. No member of the Government has said there is a mechanism available to protect the family home if the value of the home must be taken into account. The cost of nursing home care in the areas mentioned is such that one can see how it would affect local families. A person in receipt of an old age pension in any part of the country will receive €800 a month. The cost of a nursing home place in County Kildare is €2,800 per month. It will, therefore, cost over €100,000 a year to sustain a person in a nursing home. If a person cannot receive a subvention and must sell his or her home, the price will only give them three years in a nursing home. Allowing that a place in a nursing home will cost €2,000 per month, the yearly cost will be €104,000.

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