Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)

To call what we have seen revealed in some of our nursing homes a betrayal would be an understatement. It is brutality and the vicious erosion of trust. It is sickening to the core. I hope that each and every person who was seen abusing our elderly people will be arrested. I want to see their ability to ever work in such settings removed for life. These people who abuse our elderly are nothing short of animals engaged in the brutalisation of our loved ones. There must be no mercy shown to them and no excuses about regulatory failure must be offered. They are a stain on the good name of genuine nursing staff and all those nursing homes that cherish their residents. The signal must go out that, if you mistreat our elderly, you will be jailed and that, if you violate their dignity, you will answer for it before the courts and not just before some professional standards tribunal. People are fed up. We want accountability.

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