John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

At the outset I congratulate the "Prime Time" team for a wonderful job of investigation. It was a great example of public service broadcasting and those in this House owe them a debt. It indicates that our licence fee is being well spent when one sees the quality of that programme.

Many people told me they were shocked by the programme, and it is a case of seeing is believing. The hidden camera has revealed the depths to which we have plunged in this country. Today I was contacted by a nurse who has worked in this field and who shocked me even further by her revelations. She analysed it very well because she said she has worked in this field for many years and she contrasted what she saw as the good old days when our hospitals and nursing homes were run by the religious. She said there was a massive contrast between what occurred then and what is occurring now. She said the homes that continue to be run by the religious are second to none and the quality of care in them is fantastic.

A new ethos has emerged. It is about money and profit and it is as a result of the new avaricious policies promoted by Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats. It is about profit and the patient is no longer seen as a human being but as a commodity and therefore we get many shortcuts. She explained to me how this could occur. For example, cheap staff are employed who are not motivated. They do not have the vocational calling of the religious. It was not just about care. They are there to do a job they do not particularly like in many cases.

This nurse worked in Church View, Cabra, and she said the set-up there was appalling. The nurses' aides work at night but they want to sleep and if patients wet themselves, they simply change them without properly drying them. As this nurse explained, the uric acid would infect the patient leading to the development of bedsores. That was one example of nurses aides taking shortcuts because they did not like their job and they wanted to sleep. It is disgraceful. She also said that elderly people would receive a glass of milk for lunch. If one asked for another glass of milk, it was not provided. She was shocked by this strict rationing motivated by profit. The bread they were given was already buttered and if a patient requested more bread, it was not available. Those elderly people suffered because they were hungry and they were dehydrated. She paints a shocking picture and if this is the revelation coming from one nurse, the problem is much more widespread that any of us could have believed.

She also confirmed that ambulance drivers who were familiar with the house had made similar complaints. She went to the local health board and the only response she received was that it would work with the home to try to improve the situation. There was no real sanction as the health board did not have the teeth in terms of legislation to deal with this awful situation. Patients were put into a dark basement that seems to have been like a dungeon. These patients were fed by tube and had no therapy. They could not get out and it sounded like they were incarcerated. If "Prime Time" had made a programme on that home, we would have been even more shocked.

We have a problem that is widespread. The woman told me about another home in Rathmines where she worked that has since closed. Patients there were given Valium without prescription so they would go to bed at eight o'clock and staff would not have to deal with them. They were, as she put it, doped out of their heads. This is what has been going on and we have ignored it. We can no longer do so. We need legislation in this House to deal with it. I congratulate members of Fine Gael on tabling this motion and it has my full support.

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