Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil has afforded the Government the time and space to deliver the best possible outcome for Ireland. As the largest party in opposition, that remains our approach. We need stability at this crucial time in our nation's history and it is for this reason that Fianna Fáil is facilitating the budget. That should not be seen as an endorsement of the Government because there are plenty of areas in respect of which the Government has not come up to the mark or where its policies have failed. We can have stability and certainty or, alternatively, we can have chaos, confusion and discord.

As spokesperson for older people, I wish to focus first on the announcement of 1 million extra home support hours. l am pleased that an increase has been achieved and I hope it will go some way towards meeting the demand for home care. This was a key demand of my party and I, and l make no apology for it. Fine Gael has allowed a crisis in home care supports to escalate over the past year. Every single Member of this House is aware of that. The issue was always going to be a priority for us in the budget discussions. The service has been unable to keep pace with demand and, as a result, we have seen a significant increase in the waiting lists. Currently, more than 7,000 people await home care support packages and, unfortunately, the most vulnerable and the most in need have been left waiting. Allied to that is the significant increase in delayed discharges in acute hospitals. It would have been reckless not to take action in respect of this matter. I would have liked to have seen a larger increase but I am mindful of the overarching Brexit situation the country faces.

Fianna Fáil has long believed that funding allocated to enable older people to remain at home provides not only the best value but also reflects the wishes of older people and their families. The home care package was introduced in 2006 when Fianna Fáil was in government and it remains an extremely important part of the health service. The Government's health service capacity review anticipates an increase in demand of some 120% by 2031. Today's announcement is a modest step on the road to meeting that.

The Minister of State is aware that the allocation for home support packages is €453 million for 2019. I received information recently in response to a parliamentary question which reveals high levels of outsourcing across all geographical areas, with 100% of home support hours in Dublin being outsourced. Private care can be up to twice as expensive as delivering the services through the HSE and the figures raise serious questions about value for money. The State already forks out hundreds of millions of euro a year on agency nursing and now it has emerged that the HSE had adopted a similar practice for home support hours, which is very worrying. I call for a cost-base analysis to ascertain whether we are getting value for money. I want to know how much of the €450 million budget this year will deliver care and not be swallowed up by travel expenses, bureaucracy and IT issues.

I welcome the clarity on the funding of the three new hospices in the country, namely, in Waterford, Mayo and Wicklow. The hospice on the second floor of the new Dunmore Wing at University Hospital Waterford is testament to the hard work and dedication of the volunteers and the board of Waterford Hospice. They have been fundraising and promoting the hospice for years and will shortly see their dreams become a reality. This will be a state-of-the-art facility, fully equipped to look after our loved ones, and to give them the specialised care they need. Staff will be recruited immediately, so the clarification is welcome. It was very welcome to see that in print on page 108 of the Budget Statement.

I will now turn to social welfare issues. I welcome the fact that the living alone allowance will be increased by €5, which will benefit more than 200,000 recipients. That is an area I highlighted following the previous three budgets because when one member of a couple dies, where both are in receipt of the State pension, the income is halved. However, the cost of running the home more or less stays the same. I am disappointed that the increase across the board for pensioners could not be facilitated this year, but I accept that tough decisions had to be made. I hope that will not be the case next year.

In the past year and prior to that, climate issues have been to the fore and young people have led the way in raising awareness on the pressing challenge of our age. However, the left has been out in force this week criticising the increase in the carbon tax of €6 per tonne. They are the first to take to the streets and protest but real action on climate issues requires brave decisions. No other viable option was put forward. Utilising the carbon tax in a ring-fenced fund, as proposed by Fianna Fáil, is the way towards a just transition in order that those in fuel poverty, namely, 28% of the population, can be protected, including by being given grants to retrofit their homes. We have a long way to go. Single use plastics will definitely have to be dealt with, as our oceans are being clogged up with disposable single use plastics.

The Minister for Health announced this afternoon that there would be ten dementia advisers included among the 1,000 additional members of front-line staff. We are all aware that 11 people are diagnosed with dementia every day. There are 55,000 people with dementia in the country and that is set to increase to 70,000 by 2022. The all-party Oireachtas group on dementia, which I co-chair with Senator Kelleher, has long sought that. It is good news that we finally made a breakthrough today. We have been banging the drum for the past three years. We were very pleased with the news that it has finally been recognised, as is the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. The devil is always in the detail. My question is when we will see the dementia advisers on the ground. Currently, access to a dementia adviser depends on where one is living. There are nine dementia advisers in the country at present and I acknowledge that the extra ten will make a significant difference.

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