Colette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Deering for his presentation and for coming before the committee. I want to turn to a particular group of people - those who are older - in respect of which there is widespread financial abuse. This was captured very well by a study conducted by Dr. Corina Naughton from the School Of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems at UCD and published in 2010. The study reported that financial abuse in Ireland affected 1.3% of the population. This translated into an estimated 6,000 cases of financial abuse within the older population, which is quite staggering. Every time, I read that statistic, I am surprised and shocked by it. We are talking about large sums of money relating to this group of individuals. Department of Social Protection expenditure accounts for 29.1% of gross Government expenditure and pension payments amount to €6.9 billion, with illness, disability and carers' payments amounting to €3.55 billion. These transfers via the Department of Social Protection alone - which would not represent all the wealth of older people - to those who may be vulnerable to financial abuse are substantial and deserving of oversight and protection. Given the widespread financial abuse of older people and adults who may be vulnerable, what protections does Mr. Deering think should be in place? What specific actions can the Financial Services Ombudsman take in respect of the scale of this kind of abuse of a wide section of the population?