Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I am sure the Taoiseach does not want a situation to arise where he and his Government are accused of forcing people to sell their family homes. This was part of regulation. Did I understand the Taoiseach correctly when he said that the HSE will still retain the right to exercise discretion towards a person in individual cases? He said that the HSE would have the discretion to refuse a subvention. Does that mean that the HSE will also have the discretion to approve a subvention, even in a case where the notional income is in excess of the 5% limit?

In the case of a person in a Dublin suburb, with a very average house, with children living in Derry, Belfast or Cork, the tradition would have been that those visiting their mother or father at the weekend would stay in the family home. However, the average assessment, notionally, of the value of a house in Dublin would now be well in excess of the limit for subvention. Therefore, the use of the family home to provide an income stream to pay for care will deprive the family of the benefit of having the social bond of being able to return to the family home at weekends. I ask the Taoiseach to clarify the situation in that regard.

The Bill proposes that there will be an appeals mechanism set out. We do not know what that mechanism is, although I see the Minister for Health and Children is telling the Taoiseach now. We have not seen the details of that mechanism. This is a matter of very serious concern to a great number of elderly people. They do not want, under any circumstances, to be forced to sell the family home, if their families could find alternative means. What is the situation in this regard? There is no appeals mechanism obvious to us and the implications of this should be teased out more fully. By enshrining the 5% in primary law, the Government is giving vent to a great deal of angst, frustration and genuine fear among a great number of people. I ask the Taoiseach to clarify the situation, in light of enormous increases in house values in the recent years.

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