Brendan Ryan (Labour)

My colleague, Senator McCarthy, dealt with the headline items in the Minister's Budget Statement on Tuesday. I wish to deal specifically with an item in Section II, Part B on page B10 of the budget document, under the heading "Other Departmental Savings". In the case of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs it is stated that there will be savings across various areas including supports for the community and voluntary sector and local and community development programmes. I am sure we will hear about many other items under other subheadings in the weeks ahead.

The matter that concerns me is the suspension of the scheme of community support for older people following Tuesday's budget. If this matter has been raised by other Senators, I make no apology for raising it again and I support any comments made previously on it. This scheme is invaluable to older people and their families as it allows the older person to live independently. The scheme provides funds to individuals, through local community and voluntary organisations, to provide personal monitored alarms and items of home security such as door and window locks. Muintir na Tíre, through its community alert, and Age Action Ireland are among the organisations involved in providing this service. I am a member of a community alert group in my area and I have seen the benefits of the scheme.

Between 10,000 and 11,000 older and vulnerable people per annum have benefited from the scheme in recent years. The total cost is only €4 million per annum. That is an average for 2007 and 2008. The average cost per person, based on those figures, was €356. If one takes 21% VAT off that, one is looking at a cost to the Exchequer of €293 per person for the scheme. This scheme must not be suspended. We should not do that to the elderly who have a capacity to live independently if we are prepared to support them with a miserly €356 or €293 net of VAT. All members of the Government should hang their heads in shame if they persist in that suspension.

Some of the devices, especially the panic pendant, provide an alternative to institutionalisation, allowing the elderly or infirm to retain independence and freedom in their homes, secure in the knowledge they have a link to the outside world. My mother wears such a panic pendant and has benefited from it on a number of occasions. It is a great comfort to her and the rest of the family that she has it.

Many lives have been saved as a result of such devices. I have three examples from one operator from one night last week. One contact keyholder was alerted and found a woman lying on the floor. In another case on the same night a woman was found on the floor suffering from cardiac arrest. A third keyholder found a man on the floor who was in distress. It is possible that three lives were saved owing to those devices. Many older people living alone in rural areas are targets for criminals and such devices are essential in the fight against that type of crime. Of all people, the elderly and infirm living alone are the most vulnerable.

It is in everyone's best interests that older people are supported and encouraged to remain self-reliant and actively involved in their own well-being and that of their families, friends and the wider community. Central to that is the provision of supports for older people to stay in their homes for as long as possible.

That quotation is from the programme for Government. How is the suspension consistent with that commitment? Surely it is worth spending €350 on vulnerable elderly citizens?

A total of 21.5% of the cost of the device returns to the Government. Five companies operate in this industry and they employ an average of 35 people each. A further ten smaller companies employ one to two people. That is a total of approximately 200 employees. All these pay income tax and PRSI which is returning to the State. If any of these employees are made redundant they will be a drain on the State rather than a source of revenue through taxation and other means. Furthermore, once the devices are in place the individual clients pay a monitoring fee of between €66 and €120 per annum, and 21.5% of that money goes back to the State. There is a constant return to the State in terms of VAT. The devices are self-financing over a number of years.

I urge the Minister to take a fresh look at this area. It is important to think of elderly citizens and the lives that can be saved through the provision of such supports. This is a scandalous attack on the elderly and their families with little or no savings to be made.