Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

In recent weeks, distressing footage from "RTÉ Investigates" and "Prime Time" has brought into stark relief the vulnerability of many older people in residential care. What we saw was not just a breach of trust; it was a breach of decency. We must acknowledged that the vast majority of front-line staff in our nursing homes and community services do remarkable work. They care for our parents, grandparents and neighbours with compassion and dignity, often under huge pressure and without sufficient resources. However, the system around them and above them must do better. We need to be clear: mistreatment or neglect of any older person in care is unacceptable and must be met with accountability. HIQA plays a vital role here. I support its work but regulation alone is not enough. If we are serious about ageing with dignity, we need to invest in the whole spectrum of care from supports to live at home longer to high-quality residential options when needed. That includes delivering on the statutory home care scheme, properly staffing our community nursing units and ensuring that the fair deal scheme remains sustainable and fair. Crucially, we must also recognise the need for more geriatric social workers.

These professionals play a key and unique role in safeguarding older people, especially those living alone or in complex situations, yet their numbers are far too low. We need a national strategy to recruit, train and retain more of them.

Finally, while I echo the Government’s commitment to the forthcoming adult safeguarding legislation, we cannot delay. We need a full statutory framework that gives older persons explicit legal protections in the community, in hospitals and in nursing homes alike. Our population is an ageing one and the ageing population is also growing, which is a success story in itself. However, it also demands that we act not only to regulate but to care.

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