Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This year there has been an alarming escalation in the number of people waiting for long-term care under the fair deal scheme, in addition to an increase in the length of time people must wait. Last month, 2,000 people were on the waiting list. Since July the time spent on the waiting list has increased from three months to four months. The waiting list in July increased from 1,465 to 2,007 people.

The situation has resulted in a dire situation for older people and their families. The delays caused by the HSE while waiting for approval are costing people thousands of euro. The cost is up to €1,000 a week in some cases. People are entitled to access care under the fair deal scheme but they find themselves trapped on the waiting list and forced to remain in hospital. That has an obvious impact on hospitals in general, especially acute hospital beds, and there are associated costs to the State. The other impact is on nursing homes and their ability to trade and provide a service.

Once the scheme was provided to people, negotiation with nursing home owners was possible which allowed the scheme to be backdated, but that is no longer the case. The cost associated with the delays are to the detriment of the applicants and their families. Many of them simply cannot afford the situation. Families cannot take advantage of an offer of a place within a nursing home close to them which might suit their needs and requirements as they cannot afford it. If and when approval becomes available, three to four months later, there is no guarantee that the service within the facility to which they applied will still be available.

It would be cheaper and more cost-effective for the State to address the deficiency of administrative staff. I was told that €23 million was diverted from the scheme to the community care package. The situation of many of the people who made representations to me on the matter has deteriorated to such an extent that the time provided to them has been cut. When they apply for home help for an hour a day, they are provided with only half an hour a day. I do not see where the extra money that was taken away from the fair deal scheme is being provided.

I urge the Minister to speak to his counterpart in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, about the schemes to assist the elderly and the disabled, for example, the home adaptation scheme which carries out necessary repairs to meet the needs of people within their homes to avoid them being a burden on the State. Funding has dried up to such an extent in County Offaly that I am acting for 70 people who have been told by the local authority that, due to the lack of availability of funding, it cannot address the needs of those applicants. In many cases people were told that it would be a further three to five years before the applications could be processed. The average cost per applicant is approximately €20,000. The cost to the State of not providing the funding amounts to approximately €18 million. The figure is based on €1,000 a week for five years to provide care in a nursing home setting, which the Government is forced to do in the absence of being unable to maintain people in their own home by virtue of the lack of funding which might have adapted their home to their needs. The provision of €1.4 million could alleviate the problem which would allow an overall saving of approximately €16.5 million.

I urge the Minister to make an effort to converse with his ministerial counterpart with a view to addressing the deficiency with a once-off payment which might meet the demand and reduce the burden on the fair deal scheme. I corresponded with the Department and those responsible for improving the situation, but to date, unfortunately, that has been to no avail. Has the Minister made any inroads in terms of his forthcoming budget or on impressing on the sector the need to be more efficient and to address the deficiencies? The scheme was devised to assist people. People should be allowed to be accountable in some shape or form for the service they receive. That is not the case to any great extent currently.

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