Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

A number of my constituents have contacted me who are concerned about this Bill. Some were confused, others did not know what was proposed by the Government and some were very worried about what the Government would propose. Going back a very short time, I remember the Minister for Health and Children and the Government making big announcements relating to home care packages. In my county last year the programme had to be abandoned as no new applications could be accepted nor funding guaranteed this year for people who got the packages.

Elderly people are very worried about their future. With regard to home help, surveys have shown that many people would like to stay, be supported and die at home. The Government and the Minister have produced much talk but there is little action. This Government has let down the elderly, particularly with regard to home help and home care packages. Many people would love to stay at home and their families would support them if they got some back-up from the State.

As a practising politician I am contacted every day or weekend by somebody who cannot get support from the health authorities that they need. Nevertheless, Ministers issue press releases and programme managers are feeding the media, telling all the good news. It does not translate to action on the ground.

There are two or three points regarding nursing homes that worry me. I attended a meeting recently between representatives of the HSE and local representatives. One issue relating to care needs assessment is significant now and will continue to be significant in the future. Who will make that decision? We already have problems in the system where people may know they are not mentally or physically able to go home but a doctor may not think the person is entitled to a State bed. The person in question may have nobody to go home to or may require other support and may need and want the bed. The problem is the person in question will not get a bed because an assessment has been done. In future there will be more stringent assessments. There will be funding pressures on the system and a directive will be issued — we do not yet know who will do the assessment — to make the procedure as tough as possible in order to keep as many people as is required out of nursing home care.

Another issue relates to means. People are already confused about this and feeling pressure. Elderly people have made a contribution to the State and look forward to the State providing for, helping and protecting them in whatever way is possible in their last number of years. That is not happening and people are worried about it.

In rural Ireland there are many brothers and sisters and people who never married living together. If a brother or sister, or a mother or father, goes to a home, there may be family members living at home who are over 21. If the mother, father, brother or sister dies, such people would have to find funding for the State. Everyone here knows the pressure this will create for people who do not have the necessary resources.

Many people who have come to me over the past few months have put a lot of money away. Some invested in Anglo Irish Bank, Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland. These were very bad decisions. These people were living off those investments and hoping that the money they had worked hard for and invested, which they gave to the banks, would be protected in their interest. We have seen what has happened in that respect.

Even if people's income, land or property value or shares were to be examined since this Bill came to the Dáil, one would find that every single one has devalued in the last number of months, with many at a crisis stage now. People have entered into agreements with private nursing homes and they do not know what will happen in the future. They are worried, nervous and afraid and they wonder what will happen to them or if they will be thrown out on the road.

I have discussed this before with Deputy James Reilly, who was a practising doctor before his election to this Dáil. Some people need to go into a nursing home because of medical or mental health reasons. People may have no loved ones or relatives at home. They may be feeble and they may feel the best place for them to be looked after is in a nursing home. They might fall under these criteria and find themselves in a position where their medical need does not match the case for them.

The Minister has indicated that this will not affect those people currently in nursing homes but we could go through all the promises made in the last election and the promises from the Department of Health and Children in the past ten years. We would tick them off one by one and find that the vast majority of them would have been broken or not carried through. Those in the Department of Health and Children, and the Minister in particular, speak well but do not deliver on the ground, which is part of the problem.

People pay their taxes, from which they get a PPS number, and work hard. They are beginning to wonder if they are a burden to the State and if it has any obligation to them. I am glad we oppose this legislation because it will not work and we will be back again to deal with the very serious problems in it. Elderly people who have put money away and who have to go into a nursing home will be under tremendous pressure, as will their families. They paid taxes all their lives and will pay death duty when they die. Now they will have a further death tax, which is precisely what this is. They will have to go through probate and if they die in a nursing home, they will have to pay a further death tax. This puts pressure on families. If there was help from the State, many people would not need to go to nursing homes or be dependent on nursing home care. This is anything but fair; it is unfair and will cause many problems. We will be back discussing this within two years if it is passed.

Many years ago, when Gay Mitchell was senior spokesman for Fine Gael and I was junior spokesman, I used to raise on a regular basis the idea of an inspectorate for public nursing homes. There is an inspectorate for private nursing homes but where is the inspectorate for public nursing homes? Even ten years later we have done nothing about this. People in public nursing homes deserve the same protection as people in private nursing homes.

I once raised a case in my constituency and received a lot of flak from the health board. I saw the conditions people were living in and I raised the issue in the Dáil, getting the health and safety inspectorate in and, lo and behold, the Western Health Board was able to spend £600,000 on the facility. The people on the ground knew I was right, even though the PR people did a clean up job and brought the local radio station down. They did not cod anyone though and in the following election I increased my vote by 500. At every house I was told that I was 100% right and that they were embarrassed when they went to see their loved ones in this facility. When people highlight problems they are lashed for it, but we want an inspectorate to protect our elderly.

There is an inspectorate for the Prison Service. No one will ever look for any taxes from someone who is in prison for life and they will not have to pay the State for their upkeep. They are well looked after and protected, there is no doubt about it. Our elderly people should be looked after, protected and assisted. If they have paid their dues to the State, the least we can do is look after them.

I compliment Deputy James Reilly on raising so many important issues in this Bill. I am concerned about our elderly. They have made a major contribution and it is serious that they have to worry about more taxes after their deaths, having paid taxes all their lives and provided for their care. Now it is possible that their homes must be sold and their families will not be able to inherit them because they will owe so much money to the State. There are many questions to ask about this Bill and I know Deputy Reilly will raise them on Committee Stage. In a perfect world, the State would provide a bed for everyone and although that is not possible, the State has a duty to ensure people who want to make a contribution to their own upkeep are supported and helped instead of taxing them after their deaths.

This Bill is not good legislation and it will not work. We will be back to discuss it again in the future. I would prefer it to work. I would like people to be assured that if they go into a State home or nursing home, they will not have to look over their shoulders, wondering if their resources will be taken and what will happen to their property and their families after they die. It is wrong and that is why this will be proven to be bad legislation.

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