Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I move:

"That Dáil Éireann:agrees that Irish society should protect the rights of older citizens and solidarity between the generations;

accepts that services for older people should be protected to allow them to live independently and with dignity;

agrees that older people are more anxious now about services being removed from them which will lead to isolation and illness;

concurs that older people do not want to be pressurised about means tests and application forms for health care services;

agrees that the elderly should not be used as just economic statistics; andcalls for:

-- all public services to be maintained for older citizens in a fair and progressive manner; and

-- the Government to reaffirm Ireland's agreement to the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing while working towards a new UN Convention on the Rights of Older People.”

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Under standing orders we were not allowed to move the reversal of cuts in the motion itself, as it would have been repetitive in the context of a motion two weeks ago. It would also pre-empt the debate on the social welfare Bill that will come before the House on Thursday and Friday. Needless to say, however, we are calling for a reversal of the cuts in last week's budget announcement. We are doing so for a number of reasons but primarily because we believe this budget is unfair and regressive. A cursory look at the budget, and the policies and philosophy surrounding it, shows that this is so. In fact, the last three budgets introduced since this Government came into office, have been regressive and unfair. It is not just me who is saying that - all independent analyses by reputable organisations and institutions have acknowledged that prior to this Government taking office, even in difficult circumstances, budgets were at least fair and progressive. We now find, however, that with Fine Gael and Labour in Government, they are bringing forward regressive and unfair budgets.

People were outside Leinster House today protesting about savage cuts affecting the elderly. The orthodoxy of Fine Gael is to protect wealth and the rich but once a political party starts from that premise, it will always be difficult to bring forward a fair and just budget. In such circumstances, Fine Gael has stated that it will not increase tax and the party is holding rigidly to that position. At the same time, however, they are asking the oldest, sickest and poorest in our society to pay for the budget imbalance and close the deficit. In other words, the burden of bringing the deficit down to 3% in the coming years is falling on those who can least afford to carry it. Meanwhile, those who could most afford it will get away scot free.

I am all in favour of ensuring that entrepreneurship is incentivised, but that is a separate issue. The key issue is that Fine Gael has decided to protect the wealthiest. At the same time, they are asking the people who were outside the gates of Leinster House today, as well as those who were unable to attend the protest, to carry an unfair burden. That is why this motion is before the House. Because of the standing order it is, albeit in a roundabout way, asking the Government to reverse the cuts.

The rise in prescription charges is another example. A short time after taking office in 2011, the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, said he would get rid of prescription charges. He outlined all the reasons for cancelling what was then a 50 cent charge per prescription item. At the time, the Minister said the charge was a regressive step that would disincentivise people from accessing basic medicines. In addition, he said it would force people to access health care through the acute hospital setting. These were the reasons why he said he would drop the prescription charge when he became Minister. We can now see what happened, of course - the Minister has increased the charge fivefold to a maximum of €25 per month. That is a direct attack on the living standards of the oldest people in our society.

A man rang me from Cork today because he knew I was raising this matter in the House. He said I could cite his personal circumstances. I do not want to mention his name but the man is on 12 prescription medicines per month. He suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and has a pacemaker. He also has arthritis and other complications. He is on a basic pension but will have to pay €25 per month in prescription charges. That is a direct attack on the living standards of a person on the old age pension. There is no way of dressing it up otherwise.

This goes against every policy stated by the Minister for Health both in opposition and in government. When he became a Minister in 2011, he was so enthusiastic about protecting the living standards of the elderly that he said the prescription charge should be dropped. He cannot pretend that he did not know what was happening in the economy. Surely, at that stage when he took office he realised that difficult decisions had to be made.

It is fascinating to hear Government Ministers, including Labour Party ones, say that they are making tough decisions. There is nothing tough about taking money from the oldest and most vulnerable in society. It is tough to take on the powerful and elite in our society. Those would be tough decisions but the Fine Gael orthodoxies have come through in droves, which means protecting the elite and not having a fair and progressive approach to asking citizens to carry the burden of the budget deficit.

For all those reasons this motion is timely. It calls on Dáil Éireann to agree "that Irish society should protect the rights of older citizens and solidarity between the generations". That is what we represent here. Last week's budget announced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and more importantly, the cuts announced by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, simply undermine every basic decency whereby older people's living standards should be protected.

In 2008, I well remember the large crowds protesting on the streets when we introduced a €700 monthly limit for medical card eligibility. The figure was €1,400 for a couple. That was the start of undermining universality in the context of the over 70s. The then leader of the Opposition and current Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, and the current Tánaiste, said this was a disgraceful assault on universality and older people's entitlements. They said the State should not interfere in their right to access medical cover and services. Back then, the current Taoiseach said elderly people did not want to be pressurised about means tests and application forms, or have to worry about their property, savings or whether a man from the Government will call to their home or if they will lose their right to a medical card.

The man from the Government did call, however. It was the Taoiseach himself, together with the Minister for Finance and the Minister for public expenditure and cuts. There has been a complete undermining of people over 70 in the context of medical card eligibility. At the time we were talking about people with basic public service pensions being caught when the limit was €700 per person per month. It is now down to €500 - in fact the eligibility figure for a couple is €900 - so the principle of universality has been absolutely undermined.

I accept that resources are scarce but they were as scarce in 2008 as they are now. The choices made in the budget were the wrong ones. Once the Government, and particularly the Labour Party, supported the principle that the wealthy must be protected at all costs, it meant that those with the least amount were being asked to carry the biggest burden. There is no way the circle can be squared otherwise.

Fine Gael's philosophy of protecting that cohort has come through and the burden has fallen on those who were protesting outside the gates of Leinster House earlier today. It also affects those who protested last year about the loss of personal assistants for those with disabilities. Their services were withdrawn until there was a partial reversal of last year's Government decision.

We should also look at the great furore over giving GP cards to under fives.

Again, this is a smoke and mirrors effort on behalf of Government. What it is asking us as a society to do is to strip medical cards from those who most need them, be they medical cards obtained under income eligibility guidelines or discretionary medical cards awarded because of illness. These people are being asked to forego their entitlement so that the Labour Party can applaud itself for giving free GP care to children under five years of age. The public is not buying this. It does not want see a situation whereby those who are ill and in need of the support of the State are paying for free GP care for children under five. It will now be the case that a child of a person on an exceptionally high income will receive free GP free care while a child of six years of age with profound disabilities, whose parents are in receipt of low incomes, will have his or her discretionary medical card withdrawn. Can the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, honestly say this is fair and equitable? It is anything but. This principle is being supported by the Labour Party.

As I stated earlier, older people have a just entitlement to resources from the State to support them and help them to live independently at home free of harassment from the State and any organisation at arms length from the State. We now have a situation whereby people are being harassed on a daily basis by the HSE in the context of a review of medical cards under the income guidelines. There is not a Deputy in this House who is not consistently assisting people in respect of medical card reviews and appeals by the HSE. Many of these people have been awarded medical cards based on income. We are told people are being randomly selected for review. People of 88 years of age are being randomly selected for review. Budget 2014 has been referred to as fair and just. It is anything but when an 88 year old person is being asked to undergo a review in respect of a medical card to which he or she understood they would be entitled for the remainder of their lives. We are told people are being randomly selected by a computer. I do not accept that people are being randomly selected. I believe people are being intentionally selected and targeted. The evidence is there for all to see in the context of the number of queries being raised in this House by way of parliamentary questions and highlighted on the airwaves countrywide. People are being harassed. People who would have their just entitlements with regard to a medical card are being harassed. For all of these reasons, I cannot accept that this Government has done anything to protect and defend the living standards of the elderly. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Medical card withdrawals and prescription charge increases are only two issues which affect the elderly. They are also subject to many savage attacks in the social welfare area. I would like to remind Members of how our elderly people were used in the context of political capital, through the use of emotive language which does not stand up to scrutiny in the context of what was done only five years later by the individuals who stood in Molesworth Street and promised that they would reverse the cuts being imposed on the elderly, which they said they found abhorrent. In 2008, Deputy Kenny, now Taoiseach, said, "Surely, this Judas response to the elderly will be the Government's epitaph". He then said in this House last week that budget 2014 is fair and just. It is an unjust and unfair budget. In 2008, Deputy Shatter, now Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, said, "This was a callous and cold-hearted decision made by a totally incompetent Government ... If one extends the right to universal health care in circumstances in which they rely on it for their lives, one cannot simply withdraw it arbitrarily". Also in 2008, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, now Tánaiste, when speaking about the then Taoiseach said:

The Taoiseach has stated that the formula he announced this morning means that 95% of those who are over 70 now will qualify for a full medical card ... If that is the case, why does he not just do the decent thing and leave them with an automatic entitlement to a medical card? This should be done instead of having them worried, as they are, that their income will creep up above the limits of €700 and €1,400, respectively, for those who are single or married. They are worried about what will happen if one partner dies and what income will be left to the other partner. They are worried whether, at some future stage, the Minister will reduce the level of the means test.

It is unacceptable that these particular cuts are being foisted on the oldest and, often the sickest, in our society. As I said previously, this is an unfair budget and an unfair Government. The philosophy being espoused by Fine Gael has now inculcated into the Labour Party, with it now asking the oldest and sickest people of this country to fund and support the elite in society. This is a decision made by Fine Gael and bowed to by the Labour Party.

I commend the motion to the House.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I compliment Deputy Kelleher on tabling this motion. The people we are seeking to represent tonight are elderly people, many of whom have retired having played their part, paid their dues and are now trying to live out their twilight years with some degree of comfort, security and decency. This is not, however, the case in respect of every elderly person. There are exceptions. Only last week my constituency colleague, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, proudly announced in a local newspaper that he intends to stand for election to Dáil Éireann in 2016 at the ripe young age of 74 years. Good luck to him. He is an exception.

The actions of this Government over the past two and a half years would appear to presume that the elderly are a vast untapped resource or crock of gold to be accessed each time it needs to raise money. The reality could not be more different. Seven out of ten pensioners live exclusively on the State pension. Of the 30% who do not, many have small private pensions, which are even smaller now as a result of the pension levy which was supposed to end next year but instead has been increased and expanded. Some 57% of elderly people in this country suffer from a chronic illness, one third of whom suffer from a disability. The reality for many elderly people in this country is poverty, cold, inadequate diet, loneliness, isolation and despair.

It is salutary to reflect on what has happened to the elderly under the social welfare code during the two and a half years since this Government took office. During the noughties, covering the period 2001-09 inclusive, the old age pension was increased in actual terms by 65%. When one strips out the official figure for inflation of 25%, there was a real increase of 40%. I wish it could have been more. The elderly deserved more. A 40% increase in purchasing power was not a bad start. When the crash overtook us and austerity became the reality the then Government was forced to introduce a number of austerity budgets and to take some hard decisions. However, the elderly were protected under the social welfare code. There was no diminution whatever in the old age pension and ancillary benefits were preserved, which ancillary benefits had been increased and improved in conjunction with the pension increases between 2001 and 2009.

Let us look at what has happened since. The method of calculation for the contributory old age pension has been changed, and not in favour of the pensioner. I know of pensioners who have lost up to 50% of what they would have obtained under the previous method of calculation.

It was a straight money-saving exercise.

The transition pension is abolished from 1 January. People who are compulsorily retired at 65 will now have to persuade the social welfare office that they are available and fit for work. Perhaps they will be offered one of those new training courses at 65 years of age and they will be compelled to take up whatever they are offered in order to get jobseeker's benefit until they reach the age of 66. The free electricity allowance has been emasculated. In last year's budget alone, €84 million was taken out of the household benefit package, most of that from the free ESB allowance at a time when ESB prices are going up in leaps and bounds, along with the cost of fuel. Last year, the process also began of dismantling the free telephone rental allowance, and that process was completed in this budget.

In the programme for Government - not one of those manifestos that the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, tells us mean nothing anyway - the Government is committed to tackling fuel poverty. What has the Government done? It has reduced the fuel allowance from 32 weeks to 26 weeks, which is something that strikes directly at the elderly. In addition, the Government has reduced the respite care grant. I am only referring to measures in the social welfare area. Deputy Kelleher averted to the change in medical cards for the elderly, the increase in prescription charges by 500%, even though that charge was supposed to be abolished, and capping tax relief for people who are paying private insurance, people trying to look after themselves because they do not trust the State system. Who would blame them? The older a person is, the more likely the person will be affected. Home help has been slashed by 1 million hours last year. We have seen the introduction of the carbon tax and property tax, which has to be paid at double the rate it was paid last year, often by people on €230 per week with no account of ability to pay. We have seen the pension levy introduced and extended for people who are thrifty enough to look after themselves. We have seen the gradual erosion of the nursing home support scheme. Finally, we have seen the abolition of the bereavement grant.

I have mentioned 17 measures, but that list is by no means exhaustive. Any objective observer looking at this would have to conclude that this has amounted to a relentless assault on a section of the population, many of whom are vulnerable, poor and ill. Somebody once said that growing old is like being increasingly punished for a crime one did not commit. Whoever committed crimes against this State, it was not the elderly and they should not be punished. This debate is a charade to some extent, because no less a person than the leader of the Labour Party, the Tánaiste, said that no matter what is said tonight, no matter what arguments are advanced, no matter what case is made or examples, it is all irrelevant and the cuts stand, and if people do not like it, they can lump it. If that is what the leader of the Labour Party meant when he promised a democratic revolution before the election, then God help Ireland.

I was talking to a woman in her 80s yesterday in Limerick who was living in a very cold house. Her husband is dead 20 years and her only company is a little dog which she keeps as a pet. She told me that she has to go to the dog shelter in Limerick next week to hand over the dog. She can no longer afford to feed him because she needs to save the money out of her €230 per week pension to pay the property tax next year. Somebody like that must be gagging when they listen to the likes of the guff we heard from the Tánaiste this evening, a man who is paid almost €200,000 a year, with his spouse in another big State job on over €100,000 a year. It is very difficult for poor pensioners to listen to this.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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There is no need to get personal. We all know stories.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State has manoeuvred this debate in such a way that there cannot be a vote because she is afraid somebody here will break ranks and the Government backbenchers do not want the embarrassment of voting to do down the elderly. That is very clever parliamentary gamesmanship. I am sure the elderly will be very impressed indeed.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Deputy O'Dea would not be guilty of that at all.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Learn from the master.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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The Labour Party should do a U-turn. I know that U-turns can be politically embarrassing, but sometimes it is more important to do what is right. Take the pressure off the elderly and get the money from those who can afford to pay it. The Minister of State knows who they are.

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I support the motion in the name of Deputy Kelleher. The attack on the elderly in the last two budgets is nothing short of a disgrace. People who worked all their lives, mostly in bad times, to build up this country are under attack from this Government. This is a new departure for the Government. I am in this House over 30 years, and every previous government always prided itself on looking after the elderly but for some unknown reason this Government has decided to wage war on the elderly in our community. We have seen the withdrawal of the telephone allowance. Many people have come to my clinics over the weekend expressing serious concern about this issue. Many of them are dependent on panic buttons, and the Taoiseach last week stated that he would talk to Community Alert. I have spoken to representatives of Community Alert in my own county and they do not see any way forward in dealing with this issue, which is causing serious problems. We have seen an increase in prescription charges, while ESB allowances were reduced last year. The Taoiseach pointed out that those allowances were not reduced this year; big deal. Old age pensioners are not going to be exempt from the property tax and water charges. There has been a 30% increase in the cots of gas and oil. This is all causing major burdens on the elderly in our community.

We received a document in our pigeon holes today and on one of the pages there is a reference to a "fair and progressive system", which must have come from the Department of Social Protection or the Government itself, but certainly there is nothing fair about this budget. Many of the cuts will have a serious impact on the elderly in our community. The medical card guidelines have been drastically reduced for those aged over 70, and this is frightening the life out of old people, who are afraid they will lose their cards. Over the last month we have had the issue of the discretionary medical cards. The Taoiseach and the Minister for Health have frequently said that there is no change to the discretionary medical card. Well I can tell them that people are coming to my clinic having lost their medical cards. These are people with disabilities, people with cancer, and people suffering from chronic diseases.

A month ago a constituent of mine applied for a medical card and as a result, the letter from the consultant stated "end of life situation". Having refused it twice, and after about 20 telephone calls from me and from his family, the officer involved decided to issue the medical card. That person should not have to go through all of that to receive his medical card. The consultant stated clearly on the letter that this was an end of life situation. People in the medical card section will say that they cannot issue them and that the issue must go to the chief medical officer in the medical card section, but when a consultant's letter states "end of life situation", there should be no question but that a discretionary medical card should be issued.

This Government has launched a major attack on the elderly in our community. It is the first time I have seen a government hell bent on taking the extra incentives the old people have to live in their community.

People are now afraid to live in the community. The local Garda stations, HSE offices and health centres in many areas have been closed. We now have older people living in fear because of the lack of gardaí and the lack of services available to them. It is not a big deal to ask the Government to reverse its decision to cut the telephone allowance and would not cause major disruption to the Government finances. Over the weekend I had more representations on this issue than on any other issue. Most old people still have a landline. In many cases they are the only people to still hold on to the landline. They need it for panic buttons, and to contact their friends and family members because many of them are not able to use mobile phones. It is a callous decision by the Government to withdraw the telephone allowance.

I do not believe the Minister for Health was in the House last week - he is not too fond of coming in here to hear the truth. He will appear on the airwaves at every opportunity to attack and criticise Fianna Fáil. We have been out of government for three years. He is the Minister for Health and needs to deal with the day-to-day issues. He is doing a very bad job on it at present.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I compliment my colleague on introducing this important motion, which gives us, elected representatives, the opportunity to echo what 5,000 to 6,000 voiced outside the gates of Leinster House today. Those 5,000 to 6,000 elderly people came out on a cold wet day to show their frustration and annoyance at how the Government has reneged on so many commitments its parties made in advance of the last general election. The people to whom I spoke in my constituency at the weekend feel betrayed. This budget represents a betrayal of the older people in our society. Where has the coalition's national positive ageing strategy gone? Was that consulted when the decisions were being made around the Cabinet table?

The budget for 2014 has made cuts to the medical card criteria, which will result in a minimum of 35,000 medical cards for people over 70 being taken out of circulation. It would be interesting to go back and listen to what some of the current Ministers had to say when income limits of €1,400 and €700 were introduced for the over 70s to get medical cards. Why have their opinions on those limits suddenly changed?

With the latest hike in the prescription charge, it is now fivefold what it was when the Government came into office despite no major evidence to show there is any reduced demand on medication. It was originally introduced to dissuade people from getting unnecessary medication. I do not believe there is any evidence to suggest this has worked. We know that when he was Opposition spokesperson for health, the Minister, Deputy Reilly, said he would abolish it. Not alone did he say it as Opposition spokesperson on health, on one of his first days in office as Minister he said he would abolish it. We have now seen a fivefold increase.

As my colleague has rightly said, the abolition of the telephone allowance is the meanest, lowest, dirtiest and slyest cut of all times. On Monday in my constituency clinic I met a man aged 82 and his wife aged 72 who came in to thank me for getting them a panic button, which had been secured after two or three young men broke into their house. The man is profoundly deaf and walks with the assistance of a Zimmer frame, and is minded by his wife. She said the panic button is their lifeline and they wondered what they would do without it. They said that if it was not for the panic button they would never have considered staying in the house on their own because they are petrified. They are petrified because law and order has broken down in the country. People of that age bracket are sitting ducks in their homes.

What else has the Government done? It increased the rate of DIRT so that the people who had saved a few bob in the local credit union or bank now think there is no point in keeping it there and will keep it at home instead. There is no incentive for anyone with a few bob to keep it in a bank or financial institution.

The Government has also scrapped the bereavement grant. Why does it target people who cannot speak for themselves? It is because when the people are six feet under they can no longer vote. Talk about a political act. When it is pointed out that the cost of funerals has increased, the Government suggests that people should shop around for an undertaker. What does it want the people to do in their time of grief and sorrow? Should they put it on www.e-tender.ie and see who comes in with the best price?

The Government has suggested that people can approach the community welfare officer to get a grant even though their budget has been slashed in the past three years. Community welfare offices in many rural areas have closed, including those in Ballynacargy, Rathowen and Multyfarnham. Where is the lady who used to carry out the clinics in those areas? She has been sent to Trim, which is 50 miles from Mullingar, and is paid mileage to get there instead of being available for the people in the rural communities who need her there. Where is the logic in that? It is blatant waste.

The Government has also cut the tax relief for private health insurance. The Minister, Deputy Noonan, referred to this as gold-plated health insurance. Whom does he think he is codding? I was contacted today by a 72-year old man and his wife, both of whom are on the State retirement pension. Last week they got a VHI bill for €3,270. They will not be going into the Blackrock Clinic or the Bon Secours Hospital with it. It is a fairly basic package providing cover to ensure that if they need a critical operation they will be able to get into hospital promptly. It provides them with peace of mind. Following last year's VHI increase and this new cut in tax relief, VHI advised him today that his premium has gone up to €4,200, an increase of 25%. I can guarantee the Minister of State that it is not a gold-plated premium. He asked me how they could pay it given that he and his wife are both old-age pensioners. He reminded me that the budget speech claimed that nothing had happened to the old people. From 1 January they will need to pay property tax for a full year. Last year the Government cut the electricity allowance. His wife lost out when the Government abolished the transition pension.

Last year the Government also seriously reduced the home-help hours. These all affect a generation of pensioners and grandparents, including my parents, who are thankfully still with me, who worked hard to build our country.

These people are not in a position to supplement their income. Their income is their income and that is it.

I am pleased the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, is here to deal with the motion because my final point relates to mental health and dementia. Many of our elderly people suffer from mental health issues and dementia. The Minister of State made a promise and she has reiterated it time and again during Topical Issues debates in the House to the effect that €35 million would be ring-fenced for community mental health for three years. In the first year the budget ran into the second year and in the second year, 2013, a total of 477 staff were promised. However, as of 30 September this year 4% of these staff have gone through the full process. Why is this? It is because we are going to kick that into next year's budget. We kick it in and the €35 million will be absorbed into the black hole that is the HSE budget. Where is the €35 million for 2014? Is it still in the back pocket of the Minister of State? That is where she said it was in 2012 and 2013. She said she had it in her back pocket and that it would be spent on mental health.

Mental health is not only an issue that affects our elderly; it affects everyone in society. Mental health is of such importance that people on all sides of the House come in time and again to raise the difficulties facing many people. These people are not getting sufficient support in their communities. How can they get the support they need in their communities when the Government continues to break promises made in the programme for Government in the full knowledge of the financial constraints? I call on the Minister of State to answer that question. Where is the €35 million for 2014 gone? It is gone where everything else has gone: into the black hole that is the HSE.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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That was a great crack.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I intend to share time with Deputy Regina Doherty and Deputy Ciarán Lynch. On foot of the last speaker I wish to put all of this into context. We are discussing the collapse of an economy, an economy that was deliberately stoked by the Government parties at the time. Deputy Troy should note that I do not intend to talk about mental health tonight, but if he was as concerned about mental health when his party was in government as he claims to be now we would be further along the way.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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That is a low point. The Government cannot fulfil its commitments.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I wish to reply to one thing Deputy Kelleher said about a gentleman in Cork who has a prescription for 12 items. Although it has not been mentioned by anyone, there is a cap in respect of the prescription charge of €25 per month. It is not as if it is open-ended.

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter and for giving me the opportunity to outline some key elements of our approach to the care and support of our older people. From the outset the Government has given a high priority to the issues concerning older people and this continues today across a range of policy areas. I can, therefore, accept the motion proposed by the Deputies.

In general, we are living longer than previous generations. A century ago, average life expectancy was in the region of 50 years. Today, average life expectancy for men is almost 77 years and for women almost 82 years, while life expectancy at the age of 65 years is rising faster here than anywhere else in the European Union. Ireland will experience an unprecedented ageing of the population in the first half of the 21st century. By 2040 there will be an estimated 1.3 million to 1.4 million people aged over 65 years, representing between 20% and 25% of the total population. The greatest increases are expected in the over 80s age group, where numbers are expected to increase four­fold from 110,000 in 2006 to approximately 440,000 in 2040. Ireland currently has one of the youngest populations and the lowest proportion of people aged over 65 years in the European Union. We have a little more time than others to plan for the future. To achieve this it is necessary to plan now and in doing so we should remember that to provide effectively for the health and welfare of older people we must consider not only health services but the built environment, transport links, social cohesion, crime, the health of the economy, personal income, availability and quality of services and social engagement as well.

The programme for Government promised to publish a national positive ageing strategy. In April this year we delivered on that promise. This strategy was led by me as Minister of State with responsibility for older people at the Department of Health but its scope encompasses many Departments and agencies. The strategy seeks to ensure that older people are recognised, supported and enabled to live independent full lives. The development of the strategy was informed by consultations with a cross-departmental group and NGO liaison groups and a review of international strategies on ageing combined with an extensive public consultation process.

The strategy is underpinned by the 2002 World Health Organization active ageing policy framework and the UN principles for older persons from 1991, which can be summarised as independence, participation, care, self-fulfilment and dignity. The strategy exhorts all of us to look at population ageing in Ireland as a vast demographic bounty, with older people continuing to contribute as consumers and producers, often fulfilling a vital role in families and communities. This strategy is significant because it was based on what older people said about their needs. It is in line with the Madrid international plan of action on ageing, which proposes that a necessary first step in changing attitudes towards older people is to mainstream ageing into national frameworks and strategies.

The positive ageing strategy is based around participation, health, security in the home and policy supported by research. The four national goals and their underpinning objectives are specific to particular policy areas. However, actions to combat ageism and to improve provision of and access to information are required in all policy areas. The strategy goals are being translated into time-framed actions to be implemented and monitored under structures established under the healthy Ireland framework.

The first annual report on the implementation of the positive ageing strategy will be published by the end of this year. Further annual reports on positive ageing activity will be informed by annual positive ageing forums to be convened by the Department of Health. The Cabinet committee on social policy will oversee the implementation of the strategy. To this end, the Department of Health is actively engaging with other responsible Departments and agencies to drive the implementation of their elements of the strategy.

While planning for the future is important, I emphasise that there is already an extensive system of supports and services available to our older people including the nursing homes support scheme and the home help and home care packages. Deputy O'Dea should note that we have not decimated the nursing homes support scheme.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I did not say the Government had; I said it had reduced it.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Approximately 22,000 people are in receipt of financial assistance under the nursing homes support scheme, with another 900 approved but not yet in payment. This arises for various reasons and Deputy O'Dea knows that as well as I do. In 2013, home help hours were not decimated. A total of 10.3 million hours of home help will be delivered to over 50,000 clients, exactly the same as last year with an additional almost 10,870 people to receive home care packages. I hope the review of the fair deal scheme will move more in that direction.

Government policy is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible and to support access to quality long-term residential care where necessary. The nursing homes support scheme began on 27 October 2009. The purpose of the scheme is to provide financial support for people assessed as needing long-term nursing home care. Since 27 October 2009, the nursing homes support scheme is the single funded means of accessing long-term nursing home care for all new entrants. In line with a commitment given when the scheme was launched, a review is now under way to examine its sustainability, taking account of Government policy, relevant demographic trends and the current fiscal situation as well as to have costed recommendations relating to how the scheme should operate in the short to medium term.

The objective is to ensure it best supports Government policy and how residential and community provision will be balanced as part of an overall approach. The Department of Health has carried out a public consultation to inform the review and it is expected the review itself will be completed by early 2014. Overall, 43% of the total population holds a medical card or a GP visit card. One must accept this is due to the fact that the economy collapsed and hundreds of thousands of people were put out of work. Such cards ensure access to a GP service without charges at the point of use. As for the elderly, well over 90% of people aged 70 years and over hold a medical card or a GP visit card. Deputies will be aware that under budget 2014, it was announced that the gross income thresholds for the over-70s medical card will be reduced. However, it should be noted that eight out of every ten people aged 70 and over will be completely unaffected by the changes in the over-70s medical card income limits. An individual earning a gross income up to €500 per week or a couple with a gross income of up to €900 per week will continue to qualify for a medical card. To be clear, a person over 70 with a gross income of €26,000 or an over-70s couple with a gross income of €47,000 per year will not be affected by the budget change. The budget changes ensure that no one aged over 70 who currently has a medical card will lose access to a GP service as they will receive GP visit cards. Individuals aged over 70 years whose gross income does not exceed €36,000 per year and couples whose income does not exceed €72,000 per year will retain their GP access.

To assist in counteracting recent concerns raised, my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, has asked the Health Service Executive, HSE, to draw up a communications plan to inform the public about the recent changes. I believe there is a lot of misinformation in circulation. The HSE continues to move ahead with additional improvements for all medical card applicants and medical card renewals to improve the application process. The Department is also actively considering how those with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are looked after. It is a terrible pity that Deputy Troy did not remain in the Chamber. An expert group, including advocates of those affected by dementia and their families, health sector professionals and researchers has been convened to assist in developing a national dementia strategy. The objectives include the promotion of greater public awareness of the nature of dementia, its symptoms, causes and risk factors, latest information on how risk can be reduced and of what treatments, services and supports are available to those diagnosed with dementia and their families and carers. A second objective is to facilitate effective preparation and planning for their futures by those diagnosed with dementia. I believe everyone accepts the biggest problem is lack of diagnosis. A third objective is to recognise and facilitate the wish of many people with dementia to stay in their own homes and communities for as long as possible, using early intervention, integrated care pathways, case management and enhanced community services. A fourth is to simplify and streamline, to the greatest extent possible, the administrative processes applied to those seeking State services or supports or both for or on behalf of persons suffering from dementia. A final objective is to recognise and support the role of carers in accordance with the provisions of the national carers strategy, something that also was long-promised, including in the areas of advice, training and respite services.

The last point is very dear to my heart because carers are the unsung heroes of many homes and communities. They sacrifice huge parts of their own lives to bring comfort to those they love and they often succeed in doing this, as no one else can. For this reason I was delighted to be able to deliver a national carers strategy, which was published in July 2012. The national carers strategy is a cross-departmental strategy that sets the strategic direction for future policies, services and supports provided by Departments and Government agencies for carers. It sets out a vision with an ambitious set of national goals and objectives to guide policy development and service delivery. The Government's aim is to ensure that carers feel valued and supported in their caring role and are empowered to have a life of their own outside of their caring role. The strategy also contains a roadmap for implementation. It outlines the timelines and the Departments with responsibility for the implementation of the strategy's various elements. As implementation progresses, the strategy will be reviewed on a periodic basis to consider whether adjustments or additional actions are required.

A wide range of supports and benefits of course is provided by the Department of Social Protection. Budget 2014 has protected and maintained the State pension, carer's schemes, free travel, fuel allowance and free television licences. The tax treatment of the elderly remains unchanged, with no change in net income for pensioners as a result of this budget. Those aged 65 and over will continue to be treated more favourably under the Irish income tax code than all other taxpayers and this favourable treatment of pensioners has been protected in this budget. While it was decided to end the bereavement grant, the Government has maintained the current practice where, when someone in receipt of a certain social welfare payment passes away, his or her spouse, civil partner or cohabitant receives this payment for six weeks after the death. In addition, anyone having financial difficulty with funeral expenses can apply for supplementary welfare support from the Department of Social Protection. There is a range of additional supports available for people after a death that are worth considerably more than the bereavement grant. These include the widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's pension, which is a weekly payment based on contributions or a means test, the widowed or surviving civil partner grant, which is a once-off payment of €6,000 where there is a dependent child and guardians' payments in cases in which someone is looking after an orphaned child. Moreover, if a person dies because of an accident at work or occupational disease, a special funeral grant of €850 is paid.

The original notion of an allowance covering handset rental, standing charges and a number of calls is now outdated. In recent years, the nature of the telephone market has been transformed with deregulation, mobile services and bundled services including television, broadband and telephone. Therefore, on examining the household benefits scheme, it was decided that retaining as far as possible the other elements of the package, such as the electricity and gas allowance and the television licence, would be more valuable to a recipient. The level of living alone allowance is being maintained at €7.70 per week. The senior alert scheme offers the more vulnerable members of the community a chance to live a more secure life, safe in the knowledge that help, if they need it, is never far away. The Government will examine the scheme to ascertain what additional resources are needed to provide peace of mind for elderly and vulnerable people. Those currently spending less than €17.21 each month on calls can join the Eircom vulnerable user scheme, which entitles a person to the first €8.05 worth of calls free. The announcement of an additional €200 million in new capital projects includes funding for 5,700 housing adaptation grants for older people and people with disabilities. Recent surveys on life for older people have demonstrated that Ireland ranks highly as a place in which to grow old, particularly in areas such as social connections, access to public transport and physical safety. While there is no doubt that these are challenging times - I outlined the reason these times are so challenging - I reiterate today that the Government will continue to prioritise older people and to support them to live their lives with dignity and independence.

I do not believe any Government, regardless of its colour or hue, likes to remove or cut a service to anyone. However, when this Government came into office, money for five months remained in the Exchequer and when one finds oneself in a position whereby one must ensure the country gets back on its feet, this is the type of money that would have paid for pensions and all those items.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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If the Labour Party knew the position was so bad, why did it make all those promises?

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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That comment about five months' money being left is inaccurate.

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1 million every year pass the threshold of 60 years of age and very soon in Ireland one in four of our population will be over the age of 65. That will have significant social and economic implications at an individual, family and societal level. There is no doubt it will pose challenges but it will also bring good opportunities. Older people continue to make a major contribution to our society as workers, mentors, care-givers, child-minders - many of us have grandparents looking after our children - and, most importantly, as volunteers and active members of our community. This challenge can be met and opportunities exploited by planning now to ensure that Irish society is age friendly in the years ahead. It is the Government's policy to support older people to live with dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. This is achieved through a range of enhanced community-based services such as home help, meals on wheels, a service in which I am involved, respite or day care services and, in more complex cases, enhanced home care packages can be provided. Where is not possible for a person to live in their own home, our policy is to support access to quality, long-term residential care.

In 2011 there were more than half a million people over the age of 65 in this country and in response the Government policy has been to move the health system towards primary and community-based care to reduce growing pressure on our hospitals. The vehicle for this has been the promotion of integrated care. Interventions such as falls clinics in the community for older people and enhanced geriatric community care, all liaising between primary care teams and health and social networks, are designed to keep people from being admitted to hospital or having to go into nursing homes.

Budget 2014 made difficult choices and sometimes among all the measures the good news gets lost. For example, as the Minister of State pointed out, the announcement of the additional €200 million for new capital projects includes funding for housing adaptations and grants for older people, particularly people with disabilities. Budget 2014 protected and maintained the State pension, the carers scheme, free travel, fuel allowance and the free television licence. The tax treatment of elderly people remains unchanged with no change in net income for pensioners as a result of this budget. That is worthy of saying. People aged 65 and over will continue to be treated more favourably under the Irish income tax code than all other taxpayers. This favourable treatment of pensioners has been protected in this budget.

While an ageing population is one of the success stories of the modern age, society needs to prepare in order to cater efficiently for the specific needs of that population. I am talking about the care we provide for them. We have seen new key senior care services that have been launched recently, particularly in the area of home care and medical support.

In April this year the Minister published the National Positive Ageing Strategy, which provides a blueprint for planing for the ageing of our society. In the past policy relating to older people tended to deal almost exclusively with health and social care issues. The national strategy seeks to highlight that ageing is not only a health issue but requires a whole of government response to address a range of interconnected factors that affect health and wellbeing. The strategy is a significant life cycle approach to the issues of ageing and promotes a view that all Departments must take responsibility for the key issues underpinning positive ageing, endorsing a strong and positive message about the place and role of older people in our society, and its identification of key goals and objectives which address key aspects in older people's lives. That is very much to be welcomed. Successful implementation of the strategy will not only enable older people live fulfilled lives but it will enable Irish society to capitalise on the considerable democratic bounty of Ireland's gradually ageing population. The strategy reflects the aspiration that we all have of society, which is an inclusive one, an inclusive Ireland. The National Positive Ageing Strategy provides a blueprint for this planning, for what we can and what we must do individually and collectively to make Ireland a good country in which to grow old. At its core, the strategy seeks to create a shift in the mindset of how we conceptualise ageing and what needs to be done, particularly to promote positive ageing.

As we are living longer, one of the objectives of the strategy has been to combat ageism by encouraging our media and other opinion-making actors to give an aged balance image of society. With regard to much of the talk about our elderly, particularly of the people protesting outside the House today, naming them the grey brigade is a disgrace. This is a prime example of what we are trying to avoid with the positive ageing strategy. Positive dignified ageing is of relevance to every one of us because no matter what age we are today we will all age. Ageing is a lifelong process that does not start at 65 years of age and it is something hopefully we are all going to share.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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The Government will not be opposing the motion, rather it supports it. If there was a suggested Government amendment to it, it would probably relate to the last point of the motion which states "agrees that the elderly should not be used as just economic statistics". Perhaps that wording should be amended to include the words "and should not also be used as political footballs". If there was a Government amendment to the motion, I would support one along that line.

The two critical lines in the motion are those referring to the elderly living lives independently and with dignity and the concerns that arise regarding isolation and illness as people grow older. I am fortunate that my parents are still alive. My father will be 90 year of age next month and my mother is a lot younger than him. I dare not mention her name and put it on the record of the Dáil for fear of the retribution I might get on leaving the House. I have been fortunate in that they live in the house in which they have lived for the past 50 years and they have been able to do so because of the types of supports elderly people get in this State.

If an element has been absent from the debate, it is examining new thinking as to how we can support people, not only the measures that have been put in place to date and which were discussed in the budget debate.

One of the great absences of the developer-led years when Fianna Fáil was in government, and we had a developer-led government, was that housing strategy did not take account of the full life cycle that Deputy Regina Doherty mentioned. There were not structured down-sizing programmes in the housing developments that were built. We had housing estate after housing estate, three-up and three-down or four-up and four-down, being built with no opportunity for people as they got older to downsize and continue to live in their community. From my experience of having served on Cork City Council, I know that downsizing projects work when the downsized units are available in the community in which the people have lived and in that way people continue to go to the same credit union, church, shop and use the same bus services. Unfortunately because of the bubble years created by Fianna Fáil, downsizing programmes were usually located many miles form the communities in which people had lived for 40 or 50 years. In debating this motion on the elderly we should focus on how we create a society that is not only about the provision of social welfare benefits but about the community as a whole and how we treat our elderly into the future.

I am concerned about one aspect of the motion which states, "concurs that older people do not want to be pressurised about means tests and application forms for health care services". There are two issues in that statement. The first is the simple plain language used in any form that is issued by the HSE or any other body. This issue arose last year when Revenue issued a letter to every elderly person in the State, only for Revenue to discover that it did not relate to the vast majority of people to whom it was issued. However, that was not discovered until one read the end of the letter. It would have been helpful if that letter issued by Revenue had stated that if one was earning under such an amount or if one's old age pension plus one's private pension is below this amount, please disregard this letter and do not read any further. There is the issue of the language State agencies use in engaging with all people, not only the elderly, which can be confusing, distressful and create anguish.

The other issue in the statement in the motion to which I referred is that it seems to offer a blanket approach. We have seen Fianna Fáil return to adopting a blanket approach to economics again. It was wrong to give a blanket medical card cover to all people over 70 years of agree, regardless of their income. That was a wrong decision. The idea that a retired Taoiseach, and we have many of them from the years Fianna Fáil was in power, who is nearing pension age and on a pension that is immense would qualify for a medical card on reaching the age of 70, simply on the grounds of being 70 years of age, is crazy. It was a crazy approach but it was type of blanket approach Fianna Fáil took to the economy at the time but that has been rightly corrected in this budget.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Universality is a Labour Party principle.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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An income threshold in this respect had to be put in place for the over 70s.

The idea that somebody who has an income in retirement greater than that of a Deputy qualifies for a medical card is bananas.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy supported it.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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I refer to what was maintained in the budget. Despite the economic meltdown we inherited and the necessary programme of recovery we are in, the core rate of State pensions has been maintained in full; free travel has been maintained in full; the fuel allowance has been maintained in full; the living alone allowance has been maintained in full; the television licence has been maintained in full; the free electricity and gas allowance and over 80 allowance has been maintained in full; and the extra payment for caring for more than one person is retained and the carer's allowance and half rate carer's allowance has been protected.

Returning to the key point being discussed, the medical cards, as a result of budget 2014, 85% of those over 70 years of age in our population will still retain their medical card and only those with incomes of more than €500 per week for a single person or €900 per week for a couple will continue to receive GP visit cards. Even after all these changes, 97% of persons over 70 will still have access to a free GP card.

I listened to Deputy Willie O'Dea earlier who was a Minister on many occasions. He is doing a lot of name-checking of Government politicians lately but what he fails to recognise is the consequence of cause and effect. In terms of a name-check, perhaps somebody should create a Twitter account called Micheál Martian, the profile of which would be "Just landed on earth. Take me to your leader, and they made me leader of the Opposition". We would be reading Tweets such as: "Came into the House today and spoke about the housing crisis - how did that happen? Came into the House today and spoke about the banking crisis - how did that happen? Came into the House today to talk about the HSE - whose brainwave was that?" These are the legacies Fianna Fáil has given us and that we are correcting.

I will conclude on this point. What this Government is doing is creating a sustainable future not based upon the boom and bust type of politics of Fianna Fáil. We are not just engaged in the present for electoral opportunity. We are getting this country back on its feet. We are making the right decisions, and we are not being self-righteous about it.

Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I call Deputy Caoimghín Ó Caoláin who is sharing time with Deputy Ellis.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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How much time have we each?

Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Seven and a half minutes.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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We in Sinn Féin have repeatedly pointed out that Fine Gael and the Labour Party are implementing the very Fianna Fáil strategies and polices they so loudly denounced while in opposition. This coalition Government's treatment of our older citizens in budget 2014 now proves conclusively that Fine Gael and Labour are indeed, by virtue of their actions and decisions, "Continuity Fianna Fáil". There is no other way to describe them at this point time. The Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, has done a fair bit of political party musical chairs over the years but look at where she is now - "Continuity Fianna Fáil". Who would ever have thought?

Like Fianna Fáil, the Minister of State and her Government colleagues have imposed a series of attacks on the livelihoods and security of our oIder citizens. Last year it was the respite care grant and cuts to over-70s medical card eligibility. This year in budget 2014 they have come forward with a further series of attacks on older people, and that is indisputable. The axing of the monthly telephone allowance is a callous act that has caused widespread concern, and indeed real fear among older people. None of us can be in any doubt about that after the weekend, being back in our respective constituencies following the budget of last Tuesday. I have no doubt about it, having spoken to a variety of people of senior years, all of whom are reflecting the impact these measures will have on their lives.

How is that acceptable to any Government that claims to value the security of older people and that claims to vindicate the right of our older citizens to remain in their own homes as long as possible? The telephone allowance was a very important support. I know of instances, and people very close to me, where the bill for the two-monthly demand for the telephone is multiples of the use but the importance of the telephone is why it is retained. It is not dispensed with, and a mobile telephone is not an option so it is critically important that the telephone allowance is restored. That is the first demand I would make of the Minister and of her colleagues in Government - to restore the telephone allowance without any further prevarication. As the Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament has pointed out, many of the security and monitoring devices which older people have installed in their homes rely on land lines - especially in areas where broadband coverage is poor, including in my own area of the country. Replacements or changes to these systems would be costly and accessibility has been affected by severe cuts to the community groups who supply them.

Once again the over-70s medical card has been restricted, affecting an estimated 35,000 people on top of the 30,000 cut last year. The then Deputy James Reilly denounced such changes under Fianna Fáil and now he is implementing them. Age Action Ireland put the position well when it stated:

It is contradictory to be removing means-tested cards from a section of society which has high medical needs, in a Budget which is rolling out free GP care for children and heralding it as the roll out of its universal primary care plans. This year's cuts are part of a continuing process of reductions which began in 2008 when the automatic entitlement for the Over-70s Medical Card was abolished.

The then Deputy James Reilly and Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, as Fine Gael and Labour health spokespeople respectively, denounced the imposition by the then Minister, Mary Harney, and Fianna Fáil of 50 cent per item prescription charges for medical card holders, yet in Government they have now increased those charges five-fold. The budget figures claim that €43 million will be raised in 2014 by the increase in prescription charges but in Sinn Fein's Alternative Budget 2014, we show that €258 million can be saved in 2014 by delivering further savings on branded medicines and altering prescribing practices. We have also identified €66 million that can be saved by the introduction of generic substitution and reference pricing for the 20 most commonly used off-patent medications, and these are savings in medicines alone. We have identified further savings of over €330 million in the health budget without affecting patient care and without affecting people's medical card and other entitlements. It clearly shows that this Government, and very particularly this Department of Health, made no effort to look at real alternatives, going for the "cut, cut, cut" approach they inherited from their predecessors. The Minister for Health and his Cabinet colleagues, rather than deliver on their promise to make these savings on medicines, chose instead to break their promises to the people and to penalise medical card holders yet again, in particular older people and people with disabilities who require a lot of medication.

A particularly callous budget measure is the abolition of the bereavement grant, and we must bear in mind that this was a payment people were entitled to because it was based on their PRSI contributions during their working lives, but the contribution of older people during their working lives has been degraded and devalued by this Government's decision in this respect.

There is much focus now on the position of health Minister, Deputy James Reilly, and the question on the lips of many in political life, media commentators and across wider society is: should the Minister resign? My answer to that is clear - of course he should, but it should not only be the Minister, Deputy Reilly.

It should be the entire Cabinet because they are responsible collectively for imposing anti-people austerity policies which they have aped and copied from their predecessors and, with a new vigour and enthusiasm, have imposed on an ever more straitened and economically challenged society. It is time to fold up the tent and give the people the chance to elect a Government which will act in the interest of the overwhelming number who are currently suffering.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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I dtús báire, caithfidh mé a rá go bhfuil mé i bhfábhar an rún seo ar ghnó Comhaltaí Príobháideacha. I agree with the sentiment represented by the motion. It reads like a clear enough statement that there were fairer options this Government could have chosen in budget 2014 but did not. It makes the point that it will create financial hardship and that it is unfair and disproportionate. It recognises that the least well-off, those who have nothing left to give, are being targeted for cuts by this Government. It is, despite the negative of not offering a real solution, a correct summation of the budget presented by the Government.

Let us be honest with ourselves. The Government will not accept even this very moderate criticism of a budget, which was unfair, will hurt many people and will put lives at risk. Why not make a real statement for change? Why not use this motion to set out the stall for a real alternative to the policies of Fine Gael and the Labour Party? It is helpful to highlight wrong that is done but so much more valuable to offer solutions, which could avoid those wrongs.

The reason this motion lacks this is because it comes from a party which, like the Government, pays only lip-service to fairness. Fianna Fáil is not opposed to targeting the vulnerable, the old, the unemployed and the poor for cuts. It just believes it is the only party that has the authority to do so. It certainly showed no such qualms about austerity when in government, from its first austerity budget, through the bailout period and until it was shown the back door by the people utterly sickened at the result of 14 years of its rule.

If Fianna Fáil were serious about opposing austerity and about promoting fairness and equality, it would not have been so quick out of the traps to use spin and outright lies to attack the alternative proposals of Sinn Féin which were founded on just those principles Fianna Fáil would like to fool us all into believing it has an understanding of. Fianna Fáil's alternative to Fine Gael and the Labour Party austerity is no alternative. The only difference is a few millimetres in the comparative thickness of their brass necks.

This budget was the seventh austerity budget of which the State has been the victim since the collapse of the property bubble nurtured by Fianna Fáil and cheered on by the political and media establishment. These budgets have brought great pain and hardship to working class communities, people with disabilities, the elderly, children with learning difficulties, those from the Traveller community, young people struggling to get work and families with empty chairs at the dinner table marking a generation of young people once again sent to the four corners of the globe in the hope of a life their home could not offer them. This budget continued that tradition and, despite the spin of Fine Gael and the Labour Party, it will offer no comfort to ordinary people.

Young unemployed people will have to live on €100 per week until the age of 25, and even then they will be on a reduced rate. This is a slap in the face to young people who did nothing to create this mess but who are paying dearly for it with their future. Any working class family one cares to pick has a son, daughter or cousin in London, Sydney, Toronto or New York. Every family has someone who is considering emigration while many have multiples. Whole communities and social groups have been decimated as we enter the seventh year of a policy of forced mass emigration of young people. I have family who have left Ireland to seek work in recent times and not for a holiday or the craic as some spin doctors would have it.

Today we witnessed thousands of old people outside Leinster House who clearly have had enough of the cuts by stealth. They are not being fooled. The incremental erosion of benefits over the years has forced the elderly to fight back. We should remember what happened to Fianna Fáil the last time the grey vote reacted. The lives and well-being of the elderly are under serious threat. The cutting of thousands of medical cards is a crime. That is what these cutbacks mean. The extra costs for prescriptions will surely see people go without as people are forgoing critical medicine due to these costs. The telephone line is a vital part of security for the elderly and a necessity as a direct line to vital services, which can be a matter of life or death. With the cuts to the fuel allowance and the increase in the cost of living, the isolation of the elderly, in particular in rural areas, will have serious repercussions.

There has been constant confusion over the past year in regard to medical cards, and many cases have defied imagination as to why they were refused. A debacle is about to unfold. A further 35,000 medical cards will be cut. My constituency has been inundated with medical card refusals over the past year. We were told the over 70s were entitled to a medical card. We now have new thresholds and further means testing. Inevitably, huge trauma and pressure will be placed on a vulnerable section of our community.

Some of the criteria laid down and the illnesses which qualify and which do not are difficult to understand. I cannot believe some of the cases I have seen which have been refused a medical card. I have met many people over the past year who have been refused medical cards. People who could not even walk and were bent over were refused. We will now add to that by requiring people to fill out forms and by leaving people waiting for medical cards and not knowing what will happen with these new thresholds. The dead are not even safe. The bereavement grant has disappeared so one is not even safe when dead.

It is true to say that the Labour Party is the bones on which Fine Gael sharpens its teeth. How did the Labour Party support these measures? What impact statement did it request? Has it any idea of the problems this will create? It is out of touch and has lost the plot, which the people are telling it. It would want to wake up. What is happening is a catastrophe for the people.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
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I support the motion and, in particular, the amendment to it in the name of Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett. I compliment the Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament on the huge protest it held outside Leinster House today. Thousands of people from throughout the country gathered outside the House. I say "well done" to Mairead Hayes, a native of Clonmel, who is a very senior person in the Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament, and I thank all those from Tipperary who came to Dublin by bus, train and car to support the elderly today.

The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, said there was a lot of misinformation. Indeed there is, but it has been put out by the Labour Party and Fine Gael. The Tánaiste was at it again today when he insulted the intelligence of elderly people by suggesting they had been untouched by austerity. If I were charitable, I would call it spin, but if I were less charitable, it could only be described as a three letter word which starts with "l" and finishes with "e".

The record of this Government in regard to elderly people is as follows. The Government was hardly a wet week in office when in July 2011, the Minister for Social Protection cut the electricity allowance from 2,400 units to 1,800 units. The 2012 budget cut six weeks from the fuel allowance. The 2013 budget reduced the household benefits package and the electricity and telephone allowances, and it introduced a carbon tax. The fair deal scheme thresholds were increased in that budget in that the 15% of the value of the house was increased to 22.5%. The respite care grant was cut as were home help hours. Some 40,000 medical cards for elderly people were targeted, and that was before this budget. We have seen the various changes affecting elderly people and the attacks on them in this budget.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Tá sé soiléir go bhfuil an buiséad seo ag cur isteach ar dhaoine áirithe. Tá sé soiléir freisin nach bhfuil sé ag cur isteach ar dhaoine eile in aon chor. The first point I would make is that the principle of equality should be driving budgets. There is a real need for significant equality-proofing when it comes to budgets. I acknowledge that the basic rates paid to the elderly, such as the fuel and travel allowances, were not touched. Those positives have been undermined by the cuts that have been made and are affecting people. There was visible proof of that today when a massive attendance gathered outside the Dáil.

These cuts are eating into the independence and dignity of the lives of elderly people in our communities. We should reflect on the lives these people have had. Many of them have worked very hard throughout their lives while rearing their children. I know that significant numbers of elderly people are bringing up their grandchildren in parts of central Dublin because of addiction issues and because of suicide rates. Many of these people are also involved in major work in their communities. I acknowledge the women, in particular, who have been the backbone of voluntary services throughout their lives. We are acknowledging that by adding stress, distress and anxiety to their lives.

I wish to comment briefly on the medical card issue. I have heard incredible stories about medical cards being taken from people of limited means in their 70s and 80s who have illnesses and disabilities. It is stressful for them to have to fill in forms and do additional work to prove that their cards should not have been taken from them in the first place. A realistic approach is needed in this regard.

The withdrawal of the telephone allowance affects elderly people who depend on landlines for their alarms. We are talking about people of limited means. Disability groups are particularly concerned about this measure. People of limited means need the telephone allowance to enable them to keep their landlines. They depend on the landline to connect to the Internet and get the information they need to live their lives. It gives them a social connection as well. The prescription charge is increasing substantially, from €1.50 to €2.50. I appreciate that the maximum amount that can be paid in a single month is €25 , but that is a significant amount of money for a person of limited means.

I would like to make another point before I finish. The One Family organisation has pointed out that the replacement of the one-parent family tax credit is a retrograde step because it will punish separated parents who take a collaborative approach to the rearing of their children. This decision needs to be reconsidered because it is causing massive difficulty. We have received e-mails in that regard. I suggest we could pay for this if we could collect the entire 12.5% rate of corporate tax. We do not collect it all, however. It is difficult to get information on this matter. If we collected all of this tax, we would have enough money to ensure the elderly are not affected by these cutbacks.