Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I will be brief. In one of today's newspapers there is a report on the incidence of elder abuse. It is indicated by the HSE that 600 people reported alleged elder abuse in the first six months of this year. Some 93% of the older people who were abused said it happened in their own homes. Some 40% of them said it was their sons or daughters who abused them.

We in Ireland overlook the issue of older people and do not address it as it is addressed in other countries, particularly in the UK. In my document, A New Approach to Ageing & Ageism, I highlight the issue and the statement from the National Council on Ageing and Older People that at any one time in this country between 12,000 and 20,000 older people could be suffering from some form of abuse. There are 26 recommendations in my document on providing for older people. One of them is the urgent implementation of the elder abuse report. That has not happened. We are brilliant at preparing reports but very poor on their implementation.