Larry Butler (Fianna Fail)

I support this Bill. We found ourselves in a very difficult position this year to maintain the services we already had. The change in the medical card system had to be addressed. We made mistakes in how we communicated the message to the elderly so there was much confusion. That we addressed this matter shows we were listening, and 95% of the people in this country who need a medical card will have it. Universality does not apply to millionaires. The Labour Party was on the street telling people that everybody should have a medical card, including millionaires. I would like to know where that policy is now.

It is important to indicate to the House the great support we have given to elderly people over the past seven or eight years. We have made great strides. We have seen the largest expansion of our services for older people and 10,000 older people now receive care at home. This is a major initiative. In addition, more than 10,000 older people now receive care in their homes, which represents an additional 700,000 more hours of help since 2005. That is a major improvement in the health service.

A few years ago, almost no older person received nursing or therapy care at home, only in a hospital or a nursing home. The Government has now introduced home care packages under which nursing and therapies are provided at home. This year, 11,000 people will benefit from this package. This is a major improvement when one considers the budgetary difficulties we have due to scarce resources. It is important to note these matters.

Since 2004, the Government has increased the budget for services for older people by €540 million. As a result of the budget, €55 million is being provided to implement the fair deal and we have protected the home help and home care services.

As regards taxation, more than 50,000 elderly people were taken out of the tax net between 2003 and 2007. Income exemptions for those aged 65 and over stand at €20,000 for single people and €40,000 for married people, which is more than double the level in 1997. These were not increased in the budget for 2009.

In the social welfare budget for 2009, the maximum personal rates of payment for contributory, non-contributory and transition State pensions are being increased by €7 per week from the start of January 2009. We will probably have a zero inflation rate next year, which means the increases will be worth more. It is important to note these increases when the Opposition claims the Government has done nothing for the elderly. We have done a great deal of work for the elderly and will continue to do so, but obviously we are constrained by the current budgetary problems and will have to work our way out of them.

The value of the fuel allowance is being increased by €2 to €20 per week, or 11%, with effect from January. The duration of the fuel season is also being extended by another two weeks from April 2009, bringing it to 32 weeks in total.

The budget contains €336 million in supports for older people which will benefit almost 420,000 pensioners.