As of 2015, more than 500,000 people aged over 65 are living in Ireland. In the next 30 years this figure will double. It is vital that the current Government prepare for our ageing population. It has been Government policy since 1960 to support older people to stay at home for as long as possible. However, a recent report carried out by Age Action, the Alzheimer's Society of Ireland and UCD, Meeting Older People's Preference for Care, found that acute hospitals and nursing homes are being prioritised over the kinds of community services that enable older people to remain in their homes.

The report estimates that half of the older people spoken to in long-term residential care could live at home. The number of people in nursing homes in Ireland is 35% greater than the EU average. The report also states that community supports are disorganised, fragmented and underfunded. It found that across all areas, the home help service available was minimal and ranged from less than an hour to a maximum of five hours a week, usually between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The current programme for a partnership Government promises increased State support for the elderly and aims to keep older people independent and active while living in their communities. It promises to improve supports and services for older people to enable them to live independently in their homes. It aims to increase home care packages and home help hours every year. In sharp contrast to these promises, the HSE said on 24 May 2016 that funds are now being rationed and more people will wait longer for home supports. This is due to overspending on home help and home care packages in the first quarter of the year in order to free up beds and ease the pressure on hospital emergency departments.

There is an added fear that home help will be privatised. I ask the Taoiseach to confirm whether this is the case. I strongly disagree with privatisation on the grounds that it is a business, rather than a care, model. In other countries, such as Sweden, the privatisation of home help was found to have a negative impact on the standard of care provided, as the need for profit prevailed.

The current programme promises additional funding for the nursing home support scheme in order to keep the waiting period for the fair deal scheme at approximately four weeks. However, new figures from Nursing Homes Ireland revealed that waiting times for nursing home funding have doubled over the past three months. Long waiting times can leave families struggling with a bill of €15,000 before any funding is received. This is completely unacceptable. If waiting lists are not dealt with, I urge the Taoiseach to backdate payments for care from when an application was received until when it was approved.

The general principle outlined by Deputy Collins is important. It is the wish of the vast majority of people that they will be able to stay in their homes until such time as they have to become institutionalised. That is why there has been a move from institutional and hospital care to community care. That is why home care packages are so important and why the waiting list initiative and the fair deal scheme received substantial moneys in 2015, which resulted in a reduction in waiting list times from 18 to four or five weeks.

Deputy Michael Collins is correct in pointing out that the demographic pressures will increase in the future. In fact, the population is projected to increase by 4% between 2016 and 2021, with the number of people in the 85 plus age group expected to rise by 4% between 2015 and 2016 alone. As Deputy Collins is well aware, that cohort, or those much younger, can require extensive and expensive care. That is the reason it is important for us to focus on primary care centres, community facilities and home-care packages that allow people to stay in their own homes as long as possible.

Some time ago, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae made a point to me about the availability of Sunday care under home help and home care packages. That is an issue the Minister will consider in the context of the extra adjustment made to the health budget. I do not think anybody in the House would disagree with the concept of people being able to stay in their own place in their senior years for as long as is possible. Why would that not be the case? That is where the continued effort of Government will be. The approach must take into account the pragmatic understanding that the population of the country is ageing and that every year brings a new cohort of those aged over 70 - as I pointed out in the context of those aged over 80, the consequences of that can be expensive - but it is very important that the State provides the very best level of support to people in their homes for as long as that is possible. Advances in the treatment of chronic disease and expensive medical technologies can ease the discomfort of people and make it somewhat easier for them to stay at home for longer periods. That is where the focus of the Government must be for that cohort.

Could the Taoiseach again clarify whether it is the intention of the Department of Health to privatise the home help service in the future? I urge the Taoiseach to support the home help service as we know it. The workers involved have tirelessly cared for the elderly. Many of them only get 30 minutes to deal with an elderly person on a daily basis, to carry out numerous tasks and take many phone calls during the day in order to look after those in their care. They are fighting a major battle against banked hours. They have no work payment for the time spent going from client to client, even though a recent European ruling stated they should be paid for that time. The home help service is willing to work days, nights and weekends but staff are refused hours and those hours are being given to private companies instead. I and many others believe there should be a review of the management of the home help service in this country. I call on the Taoiseach to start the process and by doing so to protect the future of the home help service and its delivery.

There is no question of there being any intention of privatising the health service at all. In some cases it can be very difficult to get personnel to manage the home care packages, depending on the nature of the complication or circumstances of individuals in need of home care. The intention is to increase the extent of home care packages so that more people can stay out of hospital and be in their own place - kitchen, sitting room and bedroom - while they do not have to be institutionalised. Everybody can agree with that approach.

If it is of interest to Deputy Michael Collins, I am sure the Minister can arrange a briefing for him in respect of the area he represents and the particular issues to which he referred from first-hand knowledge. The Minister will make that arrangement for the Deputy if he wishes to take him up on the offer.