Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Another matter raised by my colleague and by the Minister of State relates to the abuse of the elderly. A report came out a number of years ago in which it was reported that 12,000 elderly people had been abused. Has the Minister of State put an independent inspectorate into State homes? There is an inspectorate for private nursing homes but there is none for State homes. That is something the Government should have done, especially as the report in question was published some time ago. The health boards, the previous Minister and the Minister of State have done nothing about it. If the Minister of State was serious about the elderly, a decision on the report should have been his first priority.

People wish to stay in their homes until their last day. The Progressive Democrats propose that when somebody gets sick a Progressive Democrats auctioneer will sell his or her home, take his or her money, shove him or her into a nursing home and forget about him or her. However, when an elderly person goes into a State home, he or she hopes it is for a short time and always has the wish to come back to where they have lived. They do not want to sell their home to the Progressive Democrats auctioneer. I hope that will never happen in this country.

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