Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is very welcome to the House. Every time she comes here, she engages with us fully. Over the last 12 months, I have been most impressed with her openness, her dedication to her role in the Government and the progress she has made. It has not been easy. The last 12 months have seen the worst pandemic in living memory and yet upgraded legislation on the fair deal scheme comes before us today. The fair deal scheme has been a great success in giving people the opportunity to get nursing home care and, while they must make a financial contribution, that contribution is in no way punitive. The scheme has been designed in such a way that it provides access to proper care for older people. The upgraded fair deal legislation that is before us today represents a natural progression in improving this scheme, which has run successfully for a number of years. I commend the Minister of State for bringing this legislation before us.

We have a long way to go in terms of providing the standard of care we all want for our older family members and which we will want for ourselves when we get old. There is significant work to be done. There will be a significant increase in the number of older people in our society. We should be thankful that we will be living longer lives. The age to which people can expect to live has increased dramatically. Someone aged 80 is not old now whereas, a number of years ago, 80 was considered a significant age. People now have a legitimate expectation to live to 90 or beyond. That means that the State has a responsibility to provide high-quality care for people reaching the twilight of their lives.

We all want to see older people looked after in the best possible way our society and our communities can provide. The most ideal way in which to look after old people is in their own homes. Unfortunately, that may not be possible when people reach a certain age and, unfortunately, they may have to get care. The State provides significant support through local authorities, such as housing aid for older people and housing adaptation grants. We would all like to see more money provided for those schemes because they upgrade homes to allow people to continue living in them by, for example, making bathrooms and bedrooms accessible. That is what we want to see. However, when people can no longer live at home, the fair deal scheme can kick in. The few unintended consequences of the scheme are largely addressed in this legislation, which is very welcome. We all know that old people can suffer from anxiety, worry and stress when they reach a stage at which they require residential nursing home support. It is incumbent on us to streamline the system, to make it easy to understand and to give older people reassurance that the scheme will not destroy an asset that has been built up over a lifetime. This legislation goes a long way towards addressing that.

As time goes on, as the Minister of State evolves into her brief, as the population of older people in the country continues to increase and as the commitment of the Minister of State and her Department continues, it is possible that she will be back in the Seanad with further upgrades to the legislation. It is an evolving process and there will be further amendments and further legislation in this area. That is welcome because, as we go forward, we are going to have to continuously upgrade and invest in services for older people. I wish the Minister of State every success in the work she is doing. The last 12 months have seen major steps forward with regard to supports for older people. I have no doubt that will continue.