Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The job of Government at any given time is to respond to the needs of and pressing issues in society. This Bill will assist in dealing with two major contemporary issues. One is the issue of older persons. Older people who are living longer and who have complex needs form an increasingly large cohort of the population. There is clearly a need for a particular type of cluster housing for older persons with facilities around them. There is a need to put home help or, rather, home support on a statutory basis in the home so that the same facilities can be provided to an older person at home as are provided in a nursing home.

My colleague, the former Minister of State, Senator Rabbitte, was outstanding in the area of disability in the previous Administration. It is an area whose needs are crying out. While the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, will deal well with what was identified yesterday, there are also issues with waiting lists for assessment, the need for subsequent treatments and facilities. There is so much to be done.

The issue should not be some narrow populist focus on who is what, who is where or this or that number. It is about asking whether we addressing society's needs adequately. To address the complex needs of the modern society we live in, we need the extra Ministries. We need the Ministers of State to have a voice at Cabinet and to be aware of what is happening within Cabinet for transfer to their respective Departments.

I am delighted to welcome my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins. As she did previously, she is going about her job in a very effective way.

The people out there will judge this Parliament and Government by how we respond to their needs and what mechanisms we put in place that improve their lives. Will there be a tangible difference in their lives at the end of the five years? That is the question today, not some sort of nonsense talk about how many there is of this and that. The question before the House is what needs are we dealing with, how are we dealing with them, who is dealing with them and who is effectively dealing with them. A rational response to that question is to vote in favour of the addition of the super junior Ministers of State on the premise that they are responding and will respond effectively.

It would be reasonable for an Opposition to challenge a particular policy position or nomination if it felt a person was unfit. That is part of a democratic debate, but what is not reasonable is to challenge dealing with a gaping societal need that needs to be dealt with.