Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

I wish to refer to two points. The first is the tragic death of the broadcaster, Gerry Ryan, and the fact he was a cocaine abuser. Senator MacSharry is right. There is no question that much of the crime committed in this country is drug-related. When will we cop on to that fact? We need an urgent debate on this whole issue as soon as possible.

With regard to the "Prime Time Investigates" programme, when I addressed the Chamber in 2005 on the refund of nursing home fees legislation, I said people were coming out of the woodwork who never put one foot past the other to visit their relatives. The chickens are home to roost now. I bet a pound to a ha'penny that in many of those cases a relative is seldom involved, but they are involved if there is money in the offing.

We are accused of being an over-regulated society but, in this case, we are under-regulated. There are people who present themselves as being able to care, whereas it turns out many of these people could not care less. I watched that programme, which was stomach-churning. Geriatric nursing is a specialised area, as is geriatric medicine. This is not a new phenomenon because I remember the case some time ago of a lady in a private nursing home. She required a particular injection and this lady in a white uniform, who had no training whatsoever, told her to turn over. The patient concerned refused to accept the injection, and rightly so.

We must bring this matter centre stage and have a debate on it. Will the Leader invite the Minister for Health and Children to the House as soon as possible to debate this whole area? It is an absolute disgrace.