Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I would have mentioned the following earlier, but I was trying to avoid being too parochial. I have been particularly pleased by significant recent developments in the care of the elderly in the Tallaght area. There was no nursing home in the area for a long time, but one has been operating at Kiltipper Woods for several months. It is a tremendous facility, the work of which I support strongly.

While the Ceann Comhairle would not encourage me to tell a story, I often think of my late uncle who died at 93 a few years ago in the context of discussions of care for the elderly. As I listened to the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, discuss the way the Government has developed services, I remembered my uncle Mick calling me to come close for him to tell me that while the home he was in was great and he was well fed, the only problem was that it was full of old people. Perhaps that sums up the way we should treat and care for the elderly.

I appreciate fully the measure of the contribution older people continue to make to society. Older people have a wealth of experience that can be harnessed and embraced for the good of the country and our communities.

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