Seán Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)

The Minister of State probably did not have sufficient time to take on board some of my contribution on my assessment of the Bill but I thought he would have referred to some of the relevant points I made. I referred, in particular, to the provision for cohabiting couples which should be included. I made some other realistic proposals. The Minister of State said he wished to be consistent. However, he is being anything but consistent. I referred to the social welfare means test. If he wishes to be consistent, why does he not take that on board rather than have different standards in the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Social and Family Affairs?

I have listened to the representatives of older people, including Age Action Ireland, the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament and other organisations. Time and again, they have expressed grave concern in regard to the assessment of the principal residence of the applicant. The assessment of the degree of dependency and means of the applicant brings us to the core of the issue. Our amendment No. 6 reads "In page 7, to delete lines 20 to 48 and substitute the following: "(i) the principal residence of the applicant,". The Minister of State can refer to 1993 but the situation has changed. We have learned that more older people are seeking care and attention. By accepting our amendment, the Minister of State would be taking on board the views of older people living at home and those in long-stay institutions. Amendment No. 6, reads,

In page 7, to delete lines 20 to 48 and substitute the following:

"(i) the principal residence of the applicant,", would deal with many of the concerns and anomalies that exist. If one takes the approach of disregarding the main residence, one can then examine other ways of dealing with this issue.

I do not accept the argument that there may be people who will benefit from the sale of a house when loved ones have died. That is not the principle at stake. The principle is one of universality with regard to services and as Deputy Higgins clearly outlined, there are other means of dealing with income deriving from the sale of a family home subsequent to the death of the main resident. That issue can be addressed and the Labour Party will draw up proposals to do so. I urge the Minister of State to accept our amendment but on the basis of what he has said so far, I doubt he will do so.

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