Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator Darragh O'Brien about the need for a debate on the Fair Deal scheme, because we are facing major problems. Given the number of people in hospital who have been assigned nursing homes, the cost to the State is approximately €40 million. This is a huge amount of money and the question is whether we provide those beds by making cuts in other areas or by increasing taxation. These are the choices we must make. It is also a major problem for long-term planning. Estimates suggest that we will need an extra 7,000 beds between now and 2021. If that is the correct estimate, the question is how it will be funded. The Fair Deal question must be debated and we must decide how to plan.

Another area concerns the number of people coming home for Christmas and the pathway home for young people who have had to leave because they were unable to find jobs in this country over the past five to eight years. Many of them have difficulties getting access to social welfare when they come home. We must review this. Returning to the nursing home issue, given that 990,000 people will be over 65 years of age in the next 17 years, we need 2.7 million people to be working to maintain the current level of support. At the moment, 1.9 million people are working. We must ensure that we encourage young people with qualifications who left the country and have a contribution to make to come home. We must put in place mechanisms to support them in staying here at the earliest possible opportunity. We should consider the issue leading up to Christmas.