Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State. I also welcome the opportunity to say a few words on a topic that has been well discussed this evening. While I have not read the report in great detail, the parts I have read shocked me. When the young people who appear on talent shows are interviewed, many say they do it for their grandmothers or grandfathers. It is difficult to reconcile this with the report which states that the majority of abuse occurs in the family home.

In many cases, perhaps people do not realise what abuse is. The report does not spell it out either, but what constitutes abuse and its forms should be defined. The Minister of State mentioned financial abuse, sexual abuse and so on. I assume isolation is a type of abuse. The elderly could be vulnerable to people in the family home who are abusing them without realising it, particularly where isolation and money are concerned.

Often, parents want to do their best for their children and to give them as much money as possible. Sometimes, the children believe they are entitled to all of that. Perhaps the fact that the elderly are as entitled to their independence as anyone else should be brought to the children's attention more forcefully.

I welcome the report, but I wish to mention an issue that has been raised by Senators Fitzgerald and Prendergast, namely, the support scheme for older people, which has been good. The grant aid for devices for people aged over 65 years of age has been withdrawn. This is a sad day. We are discussing the report and abuse of the elderly, but withdrawing those forms of security is an abuse. I have seen at first hand the good service provided by both. When the security system schemes were first launched in 1996, they only cost £5 million. They cost no more today.