Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the decision of the Supreme Court on this matter. It has been a festering sore for some 29 years and there is no point in people stating that it is the responsibility of the incumbent Government. Rather, it is the responsibility of the incumbent Government to take action. Our society is governed by legislation and the Government and the Oireachtas will have confidence that continuing the policy of people making contributions towards shelter and maintenance is not alone fair but is also consistent with the Constitution.

Since this news broke, a number of people have contacted me about this unfortunate situation. When I worked in the community, I was sent to a particular county to try to find the relatives of a person in the care of a long-stay psychiatric institution who had passed away. However, no such situation will exist now because the relatives will come out of the woodwork, which has already regrettably happened. It will be interesting to see the visitors' books in a number of those institutions to see if people who arrive claiming to be relatives of those who have passed on to their eternal reward have signed the book in the past.