Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. He is aware I have embarked on a new policy document on a new approach to ageing and ageism. Housing for older people is a major aspect of how we look after older people in the future. My research and work on the ground shows frustration at the lack of choice of housing for older people. The vast majority of older people wish to live in their homes independently and with dignity for as long as possible. The overwhelming majority of older people have a fear of entering long-stay residential care. Does the Minister of State agree? None of us would like to live in such care.

Older people who require hospital care are categorised as "delayed discharge" patients because the care they require after being discharged is not available in their own community. Some will not apply for subvention and others with subvention do not have sufficient funds for long-stay care. They do not wish to sell their home and their families do not have money to fund long-stay care. My research suggests the crux of the matter is the lack of housing and care options for older people. There has been a remarkable growth in institutional long-term care. Half of the €1 billion allocated to the elderly is spent on 5% of residential home care costs. The Government policy from 1988 entitled The Years Ahead, recommended that people be looked after as much as possible in their homes or communities. This policy has not been implemented because of tax incentives for residential homes. I am not opposed to tax incentives but half of the €1 billion is spent on residential care.

A report entitled The Housing Needs of Older People by Dr. David Stratton of Age Action Ireland, found that older people considered institutional long-term care the only option because they lacked the support needed to make informed choices about future accommodation. In any event, their choices are limited due to the lack of forward planning by the Government. The Government has not delivered the policy it decided on in 1988. This is the reason there is so much congestion in Dublin hospitals.

The Minister of State is well-informed about St. Brendan's high-support unit in Mulrany, County Mayo. This was set up by Dr. Jerry Cowley, a Deputy in the other House. Older people who need medical help can continue to live locally with all the care and support required provided by visiting professionals. The older people can continue to live independently and with dignity.

Despite the policy document of 1988, the Government's aim of keeping people in their homes for as long as possible, and the wish of the majority of older people to remain at home as long as possible, the reality is that investment has been directed to long-stay care facilities, leaving many older people with no choice but long-stay care. Many cannot bear this choice and I would hate it.

I call on the Government to publish a new strategy for older people, reflecting the wishes of older people and offering them a real choice. Government resources should be directed accordingly in an equitable way rather than claiming there is insufficient funds to pay for this housing. The Government needs a policy to provide a halfway house between residential home care and remaining in one's home. Every county development plan should designate space and finances for sheltered housing.

Those for whom it is no longer acceptable that they stay at home, who may need medical help two or three times a day, would be better off in sheltered housing, not in residential home care. I do not want to criticise all residential homes but in any I have visited I have seen the older people sitting passively, looking at the television. On this I also speak to those in the Visitors Gallery——