John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept that. The Minister should clarify the situation. Why would Dublin and Cork get priority over the rest of the country? People from Wexford who apply for the scheme encounter long delays. Those who operate the scheme tell them to take it up with the Minister and the HSE, that they are on the national waiting list for funding but they do not know when the funding will be obtained. We have been told quite openly that because of the huge list of applicants in Dublin and Cork rural Ireland was being put on the backburner and priority was being given to Dublin and Cork. If this is the situation it is not good enough. If people qualify for the fair deal scheme they are entitled to be paid immediately and it is not good enough that they are put on the backburner.

I believe the fair deal scheme is good and has worked reasonably well. It will be needed more and more because we have clear indications from surveys that the number of older people in the population will increase significantly from 2011 levels of 532,002 to somewhere between 850,000 and 860,000 by 2026. At present it is very difficult to obtain home care and respite grants. It is practically impossible to get home help support in rural Ireland.

The Bill will take more and more money from the elderly and will continue to increase the amount of money they must pay. The Minister has no broad policy for the health service and seems to be making it up as he goes along. I call on him to respond to the point I have raised about the nursing homes support scheme funding and why it is not available in some parts of the country to the same extent as it is in cities and large urban areas. I ask him to clear up this situation once and for all.

I am sure the Minister will accept amendments on Committee Stage. He has done many U-turns since coming to office, particularly with regard to GP care, universal social care and various promises he made when in opposition. It is not good enough that the Minister continues to attack the elderly. We had it in the budget and we have it again in the Bill. The Minister must re-examine where he is taking the health service because it is certainly not in the best interests of the patient.

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