Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I agree with Deputy Sherlock's earlier point that there are many good nursing homes in this country. There are many good public nursing homes and many good private nursing homes, big and small, throughout the country. I do not have an ideological view in that regard. I just want older people to have a choice in their care, I want their families to be supported in making those decisions and I want to know, whether it is a public or private nursing home, that everyone is safe and is being treated with dignity. I also believe we should be more ambitious about care in the community and that far too many people in Ireland go into a nursing home far too early. I can think of good examples of where we have housing alternatives in place and home care opportunities, but they are far too rare. That is why the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, became the first Minister of State with responsibility for older people ever, based between the Department of Health and the Department of housing, because we must get this model right.

There are also genuine, serious issues of personal accountability. There is no law, ideology or model of care that can excuse away, either in its existence or its absence, the conduct of people who decided to physically manhandle elderly people with dementia. I want them held accountable and the Garda to look at the matter.

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