Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I am pleased the Minister for Social and Family Affairs is in the House because I believe he is fair-minded. I want him to convey a message to his colleague, the Minister for Health and Children. There has been much discussion recently on nursing home charges. Today I telephoned the helpline of the Health Service Executive, Midland Area, on behalf of an elderly person to find out basic details on the charges. Given the pent-up emotion associated with this subject, it is obvious that once such a helpline is advertised everybody will want to use it to make inquiries about how the charges will apply to him or her. When I telephoned I waited for 28 minutes for a response. I must admit that the girl to whom I spoke was very helpful. She stated the staff were up to their tonsils with inquiries and trying to deal with specific queries, some of which were taking a long time to answer. To what degree has the Minister for Health and Children staffed this resource to provide information? The information the helpline staff provide relates only to public hospitals. They are just taking details at present.

Although I had the patience to wait at the end of the line out of curiosity to see how long it would take before I received a response — I did not get much satisfaction when I had finished — I can imagine the frustration of many people who are trying to obtain information. Perhaps the Minister for Social and Family Affairs will raise this with the Minister for Health and Children, who circulated a document to us all during the week making reference to the need to provide a fair and efficient type of service. The word "efficient" is incorrect considering that it takes so long to have a basic inquiry dealt with.

I am tired of listening to Ministers who attend the House for statements make comparisons with 1995 and 1997. I ask people to be realistic about those years. We did not have the much-vaunted Celtic tiger in those times, nor did we have the economic buoyancy of recent times. Therefore, in respect of changes and improvements, whether in social welfare or otherwise, if the finances are available a great deal more can be done.

One of my colleagues referred to stealth charges. While the increases may appear substantial, stealth taxes erode them rapidly. The ESB is one example. Over the past four years there has been a 30% increase in electricity charges. Whenever the ESB approaches the energy regulator for consent he grants it automatically, whether for increased oil or gas charges, etc.

The electricity market is liberalised but that will not make a whit of difference to the domestic consumer because the other providers are not chasing the domestic consumer. The Minister should pick up the bill his wife received in January to see the significant increase in charges over recent years. This is not in the Minister's remit but the pensioners about whom he speaks receive ESB bills and in many cases, although they receive some units free of charge, the value of their money is eroded by the increased charges on the balance of the bill.

I support the points made about refuse charges. Most local authorities have privatised the refuse service and are glad to get out of it as fast as they can. However, the waiver system that some operated, although it may have been restricted to certain deserving social categories, does not exist in the privatised service. The private contractor will not be flexible or give any concession to those who were on the waiver scheme. They will pay the same amount as those whose tax code includes a concession to claim back a certain amount of the overall refuse charges.

This issue was brought to my attention last week by a pensioner who said refuse charges cost €400 per year, paid in two six-month instalments. It is rather unfair that those who can afford to pay and who pay tax will receive a concession whereas the pensioner must pay the full amount. When Charles J. Haughey was Minister for Health and Social Welfare, as the office was then known, he was praised for introducing the free schemes. It is time to look at the impact the removal of the waiver system has on the cohort of people whom this Minister is trying to help through the social welfare system. It is time for innovation.

While this may not be the Minister's brief I compliment the health service officials in my area who manage special aid for the elderly which is usually granted to pensioners. The recent controversy about nursing home subvention charges should have exposed the need to create incentives to keep elderly people at home.

The homemaker's allowance operating in a pilot scheme in Dublin should be extended nationally. It works out at approximately €190 per week. In many cases those who decide to stay at home to maintain their previous quality of life are assisted by a few hours' home help. The number of hours the home-help organisers can give is often constrained by their budgets. That group should be considered to see to what degree it is possible to keep them out of nursing homes for the elderly, administered within the public system. This is often also true of the private sector because many of these people would like to live in the home environment.

The Minister should consider the possibility of putting in place a system for refuse collection. He cannot change the ESB price increases which are remarkable. By contrast, An Post, which is probably reeling from its recent problems, encounters long delays and rigidity from its regulator, ComReg. Good work in the form of social welfare increases can often be rapidly eroded by stealth charges which creep up on people and must be considered to ensure that social welfare increases yield real value.