Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This motion is an opportunity missed because instead of the very narrow motion it put down, the Opposition should have considered care of the elderly in a broader way. I speak from personal experience. Many who have personal experience of caring for elderly relatives will be aghast at some of the earlier contributions tonight and wonder are these seriously the same people who cut the blind pension and are now talking out of both sides of their mouths. It is as if Fianna Fáil has undergone some Damascus-like transition in the past three years. Elderly and vulnerable people, those who look after elderly relatives at home and those in community hospitals that have been starved of capital investment over many years have not forgotten what it did. There are many who will never forget what it did. The motions that appear before the House every three weeks lack credibility. Fianna Fáil’s research office would want to do something about that. Coming from the party that destroyed this country the motions have no credibility-----

See this speech in context