Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The Labour Party will support the Bill. I am sure like many Members, not a week goes by when I do not deal with families and their applications for the nursing home support scheme. These meetings are often difficult as the families have done so much to keep their loved ones at home but, given the medical need of their father, mother, brother or sister, they are left with no option but to avail of the scheme. The need to help with the scheme has extended to relatives and friends. These are difficult times and decisions for all families but, thankfully, there is a scheme, which I hope we will see extended today.

It might not generate headlines in the same way as other, more emotive topics that we deal with, but passing this Bill will have a massive impact on the lives of families across the country. It is important we get it right, particularly because we know the demographic reality coming down the line. According to EUROSTAT, Ireland has one of the lowest proportions of people over 65 in the European Union, at 14.4% compared to an EU average of 20%. It is as high as 23% in Italy. However, we all know and it has been flagged by NGOs working in the area that we will not be immune to the pressures of an ageing population in the near future, as the Central Statistics Office, CSO, estimates that the number of over-65s in Ireland will rise by more than two and a half times to 1.6 million people by 2051. Given the huge rise in numbers who will need residential care and may not otherwise be able to afford it, it is important we act now. We need only look at Britain and the endless frustrations that campaigners in that country have come up against in trying to reform social care to see the dangers of getting it wrong. Ireland can be proud of instituting the fair deal when it did.

This Bill will have many benefits for farming families, in particular, and we as a party welcome those changes. We know many farmers are not far from poverty. They usually have low debt but, unfortunately, with low incomes. In this context, the costs of nursing home care can be onerous and this is filling families with fear and apprehension. According to Teagasc’s 2019 national farm survey, released last December, the average age of Irish farm holders is over 55 years and this rises almost to 60 years among cattle and other farmers. Given how close to retirement so many farmers are, this Bill will be of great importance to a large number of farming families. Some 23% of full-time farms have farm family income below €20,000.

We must remind ourselves of the damage caused by institutional approaches to care in this country. We saw it with mother and baby homes, Magdalen laundries and industrial schools; we see it today with direct provision. If we can implement policy that allows older people to live independently with the dignity they deserve for as long as possible, we should always take that chance. Nevertheless, we need to provide just, equitable and affordable access to nursing home care to all who need it. There is a time in everyone’s life when it becomes the best option but just as important, in providing a system that allows older people to live independently and with dignity for as long as possible we must look at other forms of independent living.

While speaking on independent living, I will take the opportunity to raise the need for reform of the housing adaption and housing aid grants administered by the local authorities. I and Labour Party colleagues have raised this with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who informs me that there is a review under way but we need this to happen urgently. I bring this up because I am continually coming across cases where families cannot afford the rising building costs of adapting their house for their loved one, given the level of grant funding available. I find myself chasing down community welfare officers to try to obtain the balance. In one case, the cheapest quote was €30,000 above that offered by the grant. If we do not reform those grants, we will see a lot more applications for the scheme we are discussing here this evening.

Yesterday saw the launch of the healthy age friendly homes programme under Sláintecare. It aims to provide 4,500 homes for older people to live independently with the appropriate supports as an alternative to nursing home or hospital care. We need to move faster with the roll-out of this kind of model, which can allow so many to continue living in their communities without families searching for the nearest nursing home or hospital in order that they may remain close.

We should bear in mind our climate commitments as they pertain to agriculture. We should emphasise a model of small-scale, sustainable farm holdings, rather than allowing our agriculture to be swamped by unsustainable practices and corporate agribusiness. In order to allow family farms to remain in the family, we should support farming families more and not force them to be driven down by the costs of care.

The Labour Party welcomes the changes, thanks the Minister of State for her work on the Bill and looks forward to supporting it.