Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

When detailing the breakdown of additional expenditure for services for older people, I mentioned the commencement of the elder abuse programme. I will outline to the House in some detail what this entails.

The publication of the report, Protecting Our Future, towards the end of 2002 — I only took office in July, received the report in November and immediately endorsed proceeding with it — was a momentous occasion for older people in this country. They were given a blueprint to deal with the scourge of elder abuse and a pledge that the blueprint would be implemented. Up to recent times, it was felt that elder abuse did not exist in this country. However, the report confirms that as many of us suspect there is a problem, the extent and nature of which remains to be identified.

This report starts with a definition of elder abuse and recommends the putting in place of structures to deal with suspected cases. It will, I hope, give older people who feel they are the subject of abuse in any shape or form, the confidence to report their anxieties, as appropriate, to such as a social worker, a public health nurse, a member of the Garda Síochána or any professional or care worker. The report is the first important attempt to deal with elder abuse. Abuse can come in many shapes and forms and it is important to make the general public more aware of the problem. However, it is even more important to target relevant service providers so that they become aware of the steps being taken to respond to elder abuse and the procedures that will be available.

As the old saying goes, prevention is the best policy. I hope that greater awareness of the problem will lead to a lessening of the incidence of elder abuse. A national implementation group has been established, as recommended in the elder abuse report. A number of the recommendations in the report are based on experience gained from two pilot projects. I understand that without any major publicity sufficient cases, in terms of both numbers and seriousness, have come to light to justify this whole process.

I am determined to press ahead with gradual implementation of the report. Despite the difficult financial situation facing us, I made €800,000 available in 2003 and €750,000 this year to commence this process.

I concur with the broad thrust of the report which recommends that the response to abuse of the elderly should be placed in the wider context of health and social care services for older people. As the population of older people here rises, we should never forget that they have been hugely instrumental in building the State to the healthy level we enjoy today. Their contribution to the economy is widely acknowledged and the present Government is fully committed to improving all aspects of their lives by focusing on issues that affect their well-being. From a health perspective, the cornerstone of policy is to keep older people living in their own homes as long as possible. This has been shown by research to be the choice of older people themselves. Older people have a fundamental right to be treated with respect in their twilight years and the implementation of the recommendations contained in this report will help to bring this about.

The starting point for making the changes called for in the report may be for each of us to reflect on our individual attitude to older people. We must begin to question our attitude to them in order to satisfy ourselves that we do not harbour in-built negative feelings towards them. These can often be the source of unintentional abuse of older people. We now have to proceed on a journey during which we will have to absorb much and learn to cope with what may have a considerable fallout.

Some Members referred to community employment. The level of funding to which this Government has committed itself in 2004 means there will be no further reductions in overall participation levels on community employment schemes for the foreseeable future.

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