Kieran Phelan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State and compliment him on his speech and the excellent work he is doing in this area in such a short space of time.

A number of ancient cultures held their elderly in great esteem. In times of difficulty it was the elderly of various communities who were asked to guide their people through. During the years the position of respect that the elderly occupied has been diminished in the eyes of society, which is to our shame. At times it seems that at least some aspects of society view the elderly as a burden. Instead of taking advantage of their vast skills and talents, certain sections of society are more likely to ignore them.

Whether this section of society is ignored, the fact remains that, as a group, elderly people are going to increase as a proportion of society over the next few decades. As matters stand, there are more than 900,000 people aged over 50 years. With advances in medical science in the provision of health services, Irish society will soon have more elderly people than ever before. With this in mind, we can be thankful that the Government has not shared this negative view of the elderly. The present and previous Governments have rightly cherished the role the elderly have played in making this country what it is and the role they continue to play as it develops further.

The Government has put more money than ever before into projects devoted to the elderly. Funding for services for older people increased from €12.7 million in 1997 to €87 million in 2002, including nursing home subvention. In addition, over €270 million has been provided for services for older people during that period covering a wide range of services, including home help services, nursing home subvention schemes, support for carers and voluntary organisations, the opening of new community nursing units, aids and appliances, development of dementia services and funding of day care centres. Senator Scanlon referred to the successes of voluntary housing and housing for the elderly. In Rathdowney, County Laois, a 28 unit scheme, Cuan Bhríde, has been an enormous success and helped to sell the scheme throughout the county in Ballinakill, Portlaoise and Mountmellick.