Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion. It is timely and well constructed. The contributions from both sides of the House serve us well as a Department when we deal with the issues around older people. As the Tánaiste outlined, there have been major challenges in recent years and it is a good time to take stock as to where we are and where we intend to go. One of my responsibilities relates to the 2016 commemorations and as part of the consultation process we have organised a number of meetings around the country to get feedback from people. The number of people of an older generation who were still fascinated and determined to make their contribution and still have the ethic of citizenship that may have diminished or been lost somewhat over the years was remarkable. When one engages with people of a certain generation who understand the citizenship ethic, who understand what it means to be a citizen of a country and who want to play their part in commemorating what has happened in the country over the past 100 years, and when they tell stories of their families, communities and where they come from, it is inspiring. It is only when we listen to them and learn from them that we can hope to build something brighter for the future.

I want to ensure people play their full role and feel part of next year's commemorations. We are in a period of reflection on Irish history, not least because we are coming out of a particularly difficult and painful economic turbulent time. We are also in a period of reflection of the past 100 years and building for the next 100 years. We do have to discuss our values, the ones about which we feel strongly and, as Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan rightly said, about making this a country for old people. That is one of the aspirations to which we have to cling rigidly.

Our population is aging rapidly with advances in health care leading to a dramatic rise in our older population. This is a positive development. It should never be construed otherwise or suggested these are resources that could be spent elsewhere. Each year, the total number of persons over the age of 65 is growing by around 20,000. Projections indicate this will continue to increase with the impact being more significant in the over 85 age group. We should celebrate this as the success story that it is. The Government is strongly committed to protecting and advancing the policies and services necessary to promote all aspects of growing older.

Maintaining good health is the key to living well for longer. Older people are now staying healthy for longer than was previously the case. It is important society supports us all as we age, as well as providing access to high quality health and care services along with supports from primary care through to acute care, community, residential and end-of-life care. The Government’s policy is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. This is where people have consistently said they want to be supported. We must consider how we can best respond to this clear preference. There is now a stronger emphasis on home care and other community services which provide a greater range of options to avoid admission to acute hospitals, support early discharges and, where appropriate, to rehabilitate and re-enable patients after periods of particular difficulty. The Health Service Executive provides a range of community-based services aimed at ensuring older people receive safe, timely and appropriate care and treatment at the lowest level of complexity and as close to home as possible.

In its national service plan, NSP, for 2015 the HSE stated it will continue to progress the strategic realignment of services to provide home care and community support services to maximise the potential of older people in their own homes and communities. The levels of home supports planned for in the NSP are 10.3 million hours of home help service supporting 50,000 people. This is the same level of service as 2014. Up to 13,800 people will be in receipt of a home care package at any one time. This includes an additional 600 people supported under the delayed discharges initiative. Up to 190 people will be in receipt of an intensive home care package at any one time. These packages were introduced for the first time in 2014 for people with more complex care needs. An additional €2 million has been allocated in 2015 to expand the coverage of community intervention teams with a particular focus on hospital avoidance and earlier discharge from acute hospitals in the greater Dublin area.

In line with programme for Government commitments, our priority has been to modernise mental health services and to resource implementation of the widely agreed policy, A Vision for Change. Since 2012, the Government has provided additional ring-fenced funding of €125 million, resulting in around 1,150 posts of the type required to re-balance services towards greater community-based provision. The funding includes, among other measures, provision of enhanced specialist community mental health services for older people with a mental illness.

It reflects well on this Parliament when we can come together to agree a value statement for what we collectively believe in and try to deliver. This Chamber can often be a place of theatre, grandstanding and political point scoring. However, sometimes we do not give enough credit to ourselves for the level of collective understanding we have of what our people need. Older people living longer is to be celebrated. In this time of national reflection as we challenge ourselves to think of the values that underpin this Republic, this House has always striven to protect our older citizens, particularly those who may not have a family network to support them.

The State has done well in this regard in its history. Over the past eight years we have done the best we could despite budgetary constraints. We are in a position to improve now. The test for our value system will be how much we invest in this area. We can never suggest that someone’s dignity, wisdom and experience are too expensive to invest in. Many of the contributions tonight were very worthy of this House. I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this debate.

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