Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion tabled by Fianna Fáil on the need to deliver a sustained and significant increase in investment in home supports and the provision of seven-day cover for older people. It is an issue that affects every county in the State, none more than my county of Louth. Fine Gael, with the Labour Party, the party's former partner in government, removed the 23 public long-term care beds from the Cottage Hospital in Drogheda. They also removed the 15 respite care beds and replaced them with temporary step-down beds to facilitate the transfer of patients to private nursing homes. At the time, Fine Gael and the Labour Party promised a new 100-bed facility at St. Mary's Hospital on the Dublin Road, but it never materialised. It was clear that the Government never had any intention of delivering a new 100-bed facility. The plan was to force people into private nursing homes. That has to be the most sickening aspect of it all. When Fine Gael looks at old people, it does not see mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles or families. It sees profit. It looks at an elderly person in a bed and all it sees is a cash machine, a euro sign over the bed for the benefit of its private nursing home buddies. The idea of elderly care as a cash cow for private interests runs through the entire system. For example, under the fair deal scheme, many patients have to pay for toiletries, newspapers, hairdressing costs, transport to hospital appointments, prescription charges and many other items and services. Perhaps most seriously, patients must also pay out of their own pocket for therapies such as physiotherapy, speech therapy and chiropody. They even have to pay for social programmes, despite having already paid for their care through the fair deal scheme contribution. This is blatantly forcing elderly people, many of whom are vulnerable, to pay for their care twice.

Earlier this month Care Alliance Ireland published a report that outlined the shocking deficiencies in service provision. It made for stark reading. Up to 6,000 people are waiting for a home care service and the average waiting time is more than three months. Those who are deemed to be "low priority" can be left waiting for more than two years. Another shocking statistic is that people are receiving up to 18% less home care than their assessed needs. There are such cases all over the State, particularly in County Louth. There are cases where care for half an hour is provided, despite assessments showing that a higher level of support is required.

The Government needs to face up to this reality and no piecemeal approach will solve it. If the Government is going to boast about the importance of independent living, it needs to back it up with services. It is clear that Fine Gael is incapable of working in the interests of elderly people. It has failed them miserably on every count, but, above all else, it fails them when they need help the most.

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