Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

However, the record shows that there was a clear choice put to the Minister to withdraw the Bill to ensure no damage would be done. Rather than having all this argy-bargy, the important point to remember is that thousands of elderly people had money taken from them to enrich the State. This was done illegally. The people concerned are entitled to redress. We do not know what the Minister proposes to do to give them justice. How will they be repaid in a way that is fair, respectful of what happened to them and which lives up to the responsibilities laid on the Government by the Supreme Court? The Supreme Court has vindicated the rights of elderly, frail, vulnerable and powerless people against the State that illegally wielded its authority against them.

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