Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Older people, indeed, all of our vulnerable citizens, deserve to be treated with dignity and afforded the highest quality of care and the services that they need. What we saw, though, in the revelations in the "RTÉ Investigates" programme was appalling, showing shocking abuse and serious failures and neglect. I can only imagine how upsetting it was for the families of the people who were revealed to them in that programme, for others who had family members resident in those homes and, indeed, for anybody who had a relation in a nursing home to see such abuse and mistreatment.

What we saw was vulnerable people left without basic care as the homes had an inadequate supply of basic items such as bedsheets, towels, sanitary wipes and gloves. We saw others, quite disgracefully, being roughly handled. The company at the centre of these revelations, Emeis nursing homes, bears primary responsibility for what was exposed in the investigation. Emeis, of course, has to be held to account for how these vulnerable people were mistreated, but we also have to deal with fundamental failures and the abuses that were exposed and recognise that Government policy over recent decades has played a role in all of this. This is not the first scandal in an Irish nursing home.

Indeed, much commentary is being made of the fact that 20 years ago the Leas Cross scandal led to the establishment of HIQA. I heard what the Minister of State said. Leaving politics aside, I accept that all Members of all parties will be equally disgusted. When he watched the programme, surely the Minister of State reflected on the specific, determined and protracted policy of privatisation of our nursing home care. The privatisation of the care of our most vulnerable citizens, regardless of whether it is elder care, home care or healthcare, is wrong. It does not work. The provision of such care should be something in which the State takes a leadership role.

I heard what the Minister of State said about older people in nursing homes needing to be treated with respect. That is absolutely right. The first step in treating our elderly with respect is to stop treating them as a commodity. When the Government privatises and, in particular, commercialises the provision of care, a profit motive is introduced. Serious questions have to be asked. We know that the move away from the public nursing home model has had a profound impact. Local family-run nursing homes are telling us they cannot survive financially. Has anyone questioned this question: if they cannot survive financially, how is it that multinational institutions are able to come into Ireland, operate at such a large scale, and not only survive but be financially profitable? It is clear that corners have been and are being cut. We have to recognise that when you privatise a service, you have a race to the bottom. People who are on the minimum wage are caring for the most vulnerable people in society. People who were portrayed in that programme are on the minimum wage. Essentially, people who have an invaluable role in our society - caring for our elderly or other vulnerable citizens - are earning the same wage as a teenager on a summer job in a meat factory. There is something profoundly wrong with that situation. We cannot point to others without recognising that political decisions led to that scenario. We have to move away from the privatisation and commercialisation of our healthcare system, in the round. We need to start with the provision of care for elderly members of our community who have contributed all their lives to our society.

I heard what the Minister of State said about the prioritisation of home care. I agree with him. Every person I know wants to grow old in their own home if that is at all possible. I am sure the Minister of State also knows that when families the length and breadth of this State try to do that for their families, they are met with obstacles from the State. If they want to care for their loved ones themselves, they are assessed for whether they can get some support on the basis of somebody else's income. The Government parties made a commitment to the abolition of the carer's allowance threshold, but we have not heard a single word about that since the general election. We also have the situation where those who need home help hours cannot get them. What has been happening within the home help system over the past two decades? Privatisation has been going on, with commercial companies providing a service that the State should be providing. I hope that Deputies from Government parties will reflect on the decisions that were made over the past number of decades and ensure we actually have the sea change that is required to ensure we will never again see scandals such as this.

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