Seán Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)

What happened in Leas Cross was one of the greatest scandals of all times and it took a "Prime Time" special programme to highlight the abuse that was taking place and to get the Establishment finally to acknowledge what it knew was taking place and to take action. I do not intend to apportion blame, however I sincerely hope that the commission will thoroughly investigate all the issues and apportion blame where appropriate. It may be the norm in such circumstances that to date nobody has been prepared to accept responsibility, but that is unacceptable to the public. I compliment Professor Des O'Neill on his excellent report.

Residents of St. Ita's Hospital were transferred from St. Ita's to Leas Cross and other nursing homes, notwithstanding the reports from me and other people regarding the impact of the moves on those residents. As far back as 2004 I had been informed by the Department of Health and Children that a range of problems had been identified by the inspectorate of private nursing homes. These included staffing levels, maintenance of accommodation standards, hygiene problems, lack of activities for residents, poor record-keeping, insufficient or no active involvement by the local authority in fire safety and lack of equipment appropriate to clinical practice. These problems were officially known about but people in areas of responsibility were not prepared to take the decision.

People who are in need of care, especially those who have to leave their homes and go into long-stay institutional care, are among the most vulnerable in our society. A civilised society which respects human rights and promotes human dignity should be judged on the way care is provided and on the quality of life which is facilitated within the care system. Any objective judgment of our care system would be harsh and it does not give me pleasure to say this in one of my last contributions. We do not have a fair and equitable system for financing care. We do not have a clear and transparent set of rights and entitlements for older people. We do not have a system that ensures that quality care is delivered. We have allowed our care facilities to develop in response to tax laws rather than in response to the needs of older people. There are not enough specialists working in the system and many of the people who work in the system are not properly trained or paid. We do not facilitate the involvement of older people in decisions about their care.

Perhaps the most harsh judgment of our system is that, while the problems are officially recognised and plans have been made to put things right, virtually nothing has been done. We have not given the care of older people the priority it deserves. I hope the Labour Party in government after the next election will change this. I compliment the Minister on what she has achieved, but she has not achieved everything yet.

It is well known that for personal reasons I will not contest the forthcoming general election. It has been a great honour and privilege for me to represent the people of Dublin North in the Dáil and the Seanad for the past 18 years. I have made great friends and acquaintances across the political divide. I will always cherish the memories I have from my time here. I thank my dedicated staff, my wife, the members of the Labour Party, the Ceann Comhairle and the officials with whom I have come in contact for the way they have assisted and helped me.

We always tend to think about people who were elected to the House when we were, but we tend to forget those who have passed away. On this day, I wish to remember those who were elected with me, namely, Gerry O'Sullivan, Michael Ferris, Pat Upton and Jim Kemmy, all of whom have since died. Representatives from other parties have also passed away during my time in the Houses and we tend to forget them and the efforts they made to make our society what it has become.

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