Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I will talk about a more serious topic. I would like the Minister to come to the House to account for legislation going through at present, namely, the 2006 Bill relating to health reforms, with particular reference to changes to the nursing home subventions involving a target of 5% of the overall value of a house. I am amazed that changes in the subvention rates were not part of the Bill because the nursing home subvention rates have been in place since 2001. A few years ago members of a family did not have to include details of their incomes on the form as they were assessed against the overall value. However, we have reached, by way of stealth, a situation where there is a huge differential between the amount of a person's pension, plus his or her nursing home subvention, and the overall cost. Effectively, family members now pay towards the cost. It is time the subvention values were changed because there has been a dramatic rise in the prices of nursing homes between 2001 and 2006.

I hope the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, will review the position of Irish charities in the forthcoming budget. Last year, €36 million was paid into the Revenue's coffers in VAT. We had the farcical situation where, of the money collected by people at church gates on behalf of the Irish Cancer Society, €300,000 was remitted in VAT and Concern alone paid €1.5 million. That is a contradiction because the money in question could be more usefully spent in providing oncology nurses and other staff. The Minister should introduce changes in the forthcoming budget because it is wrong to charge charities VAT at 21%.