Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Chairman, I apologise for arriving late. I was two and a half hours on the road this morning, it was just one of those day that traffic would not move. I would like to compliment the witnesses' on their papers. The number of people who may be vulnerable seems to be growing, depending on their particular location. Some may live in their own homes, some may live in institutions and some may be dependent on care on an ongoing basis, which may not be available for a variety of reasons. I know the witnesses attempted to cover that.

What I would be most anxious to know is the extent to which a person who might be vulnerable - a child, an older person, or whoever - can get ready and rapid access to support when and if required. It is of huge importance, first of all, that the person is believed and is not dismissed and that there is a help service available to them and that they can rely on that. As we have said previously when discussing this issue, there is a variety of situations, which I do not propose to go into at thismoment, where it is importantto have a rapid response, or a response at the end of a phone line, or that within the institution concerned, there is a dedicated person to go to who can say to the older person, "We acknowledge your situation, and we can do something about it".