Mary White (Fianna Fail)

Last night, I attended a public meeting in Ardee, County Louth, organised by Councillor Frank Godfrey and the St. Joseph's action group against the closure of the nursing home in Ardee and the Cottage Hospital. The people of Ardee will be watching "Oireachtas Report" to see the reaction of my colleagues. HIQA has proposed that the St. Joseph's nursing home, Ardee, should be closed. It is a home from home. Two days ago, Professor Des O'Neill reported an increase in elder abuse and I suggest that the proposed closure of St. Joseph's nursing home and the Cottage nursing home is State elder abuse. At the moment I am reading To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland by Sean O'Callaghan. Sitting at that meeting last night, I thought of Cromwell, Drogheda and County Louth. I really think the Minister for Health is Cromwell. He is evicting people in their 70s, 80s and 90s from the place that has been their home for years. These people are powerless and on Monday this week, and we all remember how cold that day was, residents of St. Joseph's in wheelchairs were left in the rain and cold outside. They were totally shocked. How did they hear about the closure of their nursing home? On the radio. Such coldness is unbelievable. This is elder abuse by the State, it is abhorrent.