Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Senators for their valuable and personal contributions. The Bill is technical and complex in nature, so I appreciate the support of Senators in facilitating its swift passage through Seanad Éireann. I thank the Cathaoirleach, Senator Mark Daly, the Leader and the Deputy Leader of the House and all the officials, given that there was much toing and froing in the past fortnight to see whether we could find time for the Bill. We have debated Second Stage today and will debate Committee and Remaining Stages tomorrow. I thank each Senator for facilitating that because it was so important that it would happen.

Many Senators spoke about our former colleague, the former Minister of State, Jim Daly. I will tell a little story that few people know. My father and Jim Daly's father were reared beside each other. They grew up together in the small townland of Derrynagree, one mile outside Drimoleague in west Cork. From our very first meeting, Jim and I hit it off and worked very well together. When he was handing over the reins to me, we spoke about the fair deal scheme, statutory home care and housing for older people. I am honoured to carry on the mantle in the context of this Bill. It is amazing our two fathers grew up beside each other in west Cork.

Senator Lombard summed it up when he referred to peace of mind, while Senator Clifford-Lee did so too when she stated that the disincentive is being removed. The Bill is complex but its core aims are straightforward, seeking as it does to ensure fair treatment for farm families and business-owning families, without impacting negatively on the sustainability of the scheme, thereby preserving access to care for those who need it. It is important that we ensure the sustainability of the scheme. It costs €1.4 billion a year, a vast sum to support 22,500 people in nursing homes.

That brings me to the issue of home care, which was raised by Senator Garvey and others. We made a significant breakthrough in home care this year, with a total of €632 million allocated for it. There was an increase of 5 million home care hours, bringing the total figure to 24 million. When I was sitting in opposition for the four years prior to the most recent election, I used to have a go at the then Minister in regard to home care hours. Just before that election, the number of people waiting for home care throughout the country was 8,000. Now, during Covid, the figure has fallen to fewer than 2,000, which is phenomenal.

To respond to Senator Garvey, home care is delivered predominantly on clinical, medical grounds, unlike home help, which does not really exist any more. Nevertheless, I acknowledge the point she made about rural isolation. I have been working on such issues as a member of the loneliness task force and I accept what she said, but we have made substantial progress on home care. The premise of Sláintecare is the right care at the right time in the right place, and that is what we are trying to achieve. I take on board the point the Senator made about having been offered a choice between five years and the fair deal scheme. For some people, it is very difficult to make that decision. I very much welcome the cross-party support for the Bill. The support in the Dáil was similar, where I worked with the Opposition on some amendments to get them over the line.

I will now address a few of the Senators' questions. On when the scheme will commence, I hope the Bill will pass Committee and Remaining Stages tomorrow and it will then go to the President to be signed into law. An amendment provides that the Bill will then be enacted within 90 days. The reason we have provided for the 90-day period relates to the cyberattack having slowed down matters. The HSE has work to do on this, as does the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I wanted to be fair, so a 90-day period was provided for.

Senator Malcolm Byrne asked about time served and when a successor should be appointed. Once the Bill has been enacted, if a loved one is moving to a nursing home the successor should be put in place immediately. Once a successor has been put in place, if a loved one - someone's father, mother, aunt or uncle, for example - has been in a nursing home for, say, two years, that time will count. The person will have to serve only one further year in the nursing home to reach three years and he or she will have reached the cap. In fairness, 37% of people spend only between six and seven months in a nursing home, although the average length of stay is approximately two and a half years. If a person has been in a nursing home for four years and appoints a successor, the cap is applied immediately. The period spent, therefore, is retrospective.

To respond to Senator Mullen, we are trying to make this scheme as user-friendly as possible. A person will not have to prove that he or she has an income. The phrase used is a "substantial part of the working time", rather than it being based on a proportion of the person's income. As Senator Dolan noted, many family members help on the farm.They help with milking, silage, crops and various other tasks at different times of the year but they may not have an income from the farm. In order to be a successor, one has to have shown an interest and been part of the farm for three of the previous five years but one does not have to show an income. There are cases, for example, in which a son or daughter might have been in Australia or Canada but can come home and be that successor once the farm was in family ownership. All we are trying to do is to make sure the farm or small business is sustained.

I will touch on some of the other matters that have been raised when we deal with Committee Stage tomorrow but I wish to address now the issue of statutory home care because it has come up frequently and we are doing a significant amount of work on it. We hope to bring in a statutory home care scheme next year which will be like the fair deal scheme but in the home. In budget 2021, I got funding for 128 assessors to roll out this international resident assessment instrument, interRAI, programme. That means that those being assessed for their needs will undergo the same assessment no matter which part of the country they live in or the CHO they are in. That will determine applicants' needs. A significant amount of work is being done on that.

I know that we have to deal with Committee Stage tomorrow but I wish to acknowledge that I have received so much support from Ms Fiona Larthwell and Mr. Neil Kavangh, two of my officials who have been with me for the past seven months in driving on this initiative. I thank them once again. I thank the Acting Chairperson for her support. I am delighted that we have reached this stage. The push was on to get the Bill done this week. I did not want to have to come to the Seanad with the Bill in September or October, with the Bill not being enacted until Christmas. It is a positive story. It is correcting an unintended consequence and an anomaly that was there since 2009. It has taken some time to address it. I acknowledge all the people who made representations to me on the issue. I am delighted to get the Bill over the line.