Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

People throughout the country are shocked and justifiably outraged at the revelations regarding the abuse of senior citizens in nursing homes. They hold the State culpable because it has failed to protect senior citizens. Is the Taoiseach aware that many thousands of senior citizens throughout the country do not need residential care but need services within their communities in order that, in their later years, they are not found isolated and alone? There is a need for a network of day care centres and, specifically, for the immediate resourcing of those centres already in place but as yet neither staffed nor resourced.

Is the Taoiseach aware that there are newly built centres, including health centres, with specially designated day care units for senior citizens, for example the centre at Cootehill, County Cavan, in my constituency, lying idle because they have neither the personnel nor the equipment to commence services, including, in the case of Cootehill, the provision of a bus service to access some 200 senior citizens from a wide hinterland? Is the Taoiseach aware that the then Minister for State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Callely, gave a commitment that the centre at Cootehill would be up and running for our senior citizens in advance of last year's local and European elections?

What will the Taoiseach do to ensure communities such as Cootehill, County Cavan, and elsewhere have the same level of service and enjoy the same access to day care provision as other communities throughout the country? Will he insist on lifting the staff ceiling currently in place within the health services to accommodate the staffing needs of these facilities? Will he arrange for the provision of the additional financial allocations necessary to see these essential services up and running, and not ask communities and senior citizens, in the twilight years of their lives, to accept the promise that the Government and the services will look more favourably on their needs in the coming year?

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