Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While the debate proposed for this afternoon is extremely important and welcome, it is fair to say that the Government's legislative programme is very light with little legislation being put through the Houses. We have statements on a number of days this week. That is a sign, if we needed one, that the Government is in complete and utter chaos with one side not knowing what the other side wants to do while everybody is talking about water charges which are very important.

As has been remarked on by numerous people in recent weeks, what about everything else that is happening at present. That seems to be ignored while one topic is given full attention at Government level and continues to confuse and cause chaos among the public. One such issue that is being completely ignored is that of the fair deal scheme. I appreciate that we had statements on health last week but the fair deal scheme is one that should be dealt with separately.

More than 2,000 older people are waiting almost four months for a bed in a nursing home. All Members know this as the families of most of those people would have called to the clinics of Senators and Deputies in their communities. Certainly, I am aware of a number of these cases. Often one is dealing with people who have advanced dementia, whose spouse has died and whose families cannot care for them or, in some cases, they have no families. The fair deal crisis is targeting the sickest and vulnerable older people in society. It could have been avoided if a realistic budget had been allocated for health last year instead of tricking around with figures which were designed to confuse and complicate matters but, ultimately, have the effect of causing real hardship and hurt in our communities.

In many counties the waiting list for the fair deal scheme has increased by 300% during the past 12 months. In Laois-Offaly the numbers have increased from 17 to 68, in Meath from 13 to 52, in Wexford from 12 to 48, in Donegal from 16 to 64 and in Roscommon, my colleague Senator Terry Leyden's county, from 7 to 28 at the end of September 2014. This is outrageous. These increases, in numerical terms, tell the startling story of what is happening to older people and what value we put on our older people. We hear the Taoiseach speak regularly about making Ireland the best small country in the world in which to do business. As my leader has said that is not a value, it may be a worthy objective but values are things like making Ireland the best small country in the world in which to grow old, where one is comforted and cared for by family and friends and the State, if necessary. These figures belie that objective and are a disgrace. We should have a debate on the issue and those figures need to be highlighted as this is a cause of real suffering and hardship for people.