James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I confirm what Deputy O'Sullivan has said. Representatives of Age Action Ireland have said they feel they were not properly consulted. Perhaps the legal difficulties being experienced by the Attorney General with regard to this Bill are a consequence of this lack of consultation.

The Minister has given many good examples of how the new scheme, A Fair Deal, is expected to work. In principle, I do not have an issue with this. However, she omitted the difficult examples. With regard to running down the other assets before the family home is affected, what about the shopkeeper who owns a shop and lives with Mammy? What about the publican or the small farmer? This must be clarified. However, the most important issue is the standard of care and protection of patients. A plan must be devised, implemented, monitored and enforced. When I met with representatives of HIQA, they did not indicate they were in a position to do this within a reasonable time. They have not even devised the standards yet, let alone obtained the resources for monitoring, enforcement and inspection of homes. Unless there is someone to enforce standards, there is no point in having them. We must have standards to protect our elderly people. Will HIQA be given the funding to do this within the next six months? My understanding is that it will not.

I hope the Minister will publish the heads of the Bill early to allow ample time for discussion, with no guillotines. This is a major issue for our society for the reasons already outlined.

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