Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)

Growing old is a privilege, one which, it is to be hoped, many of us in the Chamber will be able to enjoy. In Ireland we have a lot to do in order to deal with our attitudes toward ageing and the way we treasure and nurture our older population. We should not infantalise them, as we did during Covid. When it comes to this issue around care, we need to offer choice. The reality is that we are all living longer and are healthier, and are also facing into much more complex healthcare plans for people as we age because of the demographic realities.

Choice, public care and prevention are the key elements we need to focus on this area. When we talk about choice, what we are saying is that older people should be facilitated into their older years and their families and communities should also be facilitated to allow them to make the choices they want to make in respect of their own health care. If that means remaining at home or living in facilitated environments or nursing homes, that spectrum of choice needs to be available to them.

In terms of public care, it is sad that we are seeing, as in so many areas, a trend towards privatisation. We heard earlier about the trend in direct provision where instead of building State-run centres there has been a reliance on private facilities. Similarly, in this area we have so much reliance on private providers when this is something the State should be providing. That is the vision of Sláintecare, in terms of healthcare and the public system, that we know we want to get to, namely, universal healthcare provision.

We are also missing a trick as a population and Government. We talk a lot about automation and the displacement of labour we will see through automation. The one sector that cannot be automated is care. We can never rely on robots and machines to provide care. Yet, we continue to undervalue care in our society. Of course, it is mostly carried out by women. I am referring to care roles in nursing homes, voluntary care roles in communities and families and teaching roles. They are all areas where, if we actually placed more value on them, we could invest in our future, future-proof our labour force and provide for the choice we want.

I want to talk about prevention because I come from the human rights space, where a lot of work goes into prevention. In 2017, when I was director of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, we discussed the ratification of the convention against torture and the implementation of a national preventative mechanism. We are still talking about that. Legislation has not been passed. That is something that can provide for the preventative mechanisms which will make sure that this does not happen because it goes beyond the remit of HIQA. It is a fantastic organisation in a lot of ways and there are really good people and structures in it, but it has been fighting constantly for an additional remit to allow it to do its job.

The optional protocol to the convention against torture and the national preventative mechanism, if properly implemented, would mean that this is prevented and never actually happens. HIQA would have better facilities for unannounced and unannounced visits. There would be mechanisms in each sector, meaning there would be an inspector of prisons in justice and HIQA for the healthcare and nursing home sectors, but they would be beefed up in terms of their strengths and powers. That is the legislation we need. Proposals have been in place for a decade but legislation has not been passed. That is something the Department should examine. What we need for older people is safety, security and certainty, and these are elements which can bring that about.

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