Keith Swanick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Everyone knows people in their communities or families who are able to stay in the comfort of their own homes rather than a nursing home or hospital. Often only minor adjustments are required to allow this to happen but each day I encounter inordinate delays to home care packages. Six months ago, my Fianna Fáil colleague, Deputy Willie O'Dea, introduced legislation to provide for a statutory right to a home care package. The Government kicked this down the road for six months and we still have not seen this. I want to know where is this legislation and where is the priority? Last week we were asked to rush through and underwrite a bid for the Rugby World Cup, which I support 100%, but where is the same urgency to deal with the scandal of home care packages? This needs to be debated. The savage cuts in the past six years to housing adaptation grants for older people and people with disabilities, as well as mobility grants, is a scandal. In 2010, at the height of budgetary cuts, this area was protected. In 2010, the Exchequer provided approximately €77 million to local authorities for this vital work. This fell to about €36 million in 2014, causing some local councils to effectively close down the scheme. It has risen slightly in recent years. I read the press release from the former Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government when he announced €59.8 million for 2017 but the real figure from the Government is only €47 million, as the larger figure includes 20% local authority funding. We need more transparency. This is the type of creative accounting that was exposed in the banking inquiry. The Exchequer funding for 2017 is €30 million less than 2010. A sum of €30 million would help many families get wheelchair ramps, grab rails, hoists and other basic adaptations. We need to have a debate about this because, as local councillors will attest, funding remains too low. I have often said that the mark of a society is how we treat our old people, our sick and our young and our Government is failing in this regard.