Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----but what more proof do we need than to see the way those people were treating those residents on the programme? They should not be paid. Suspend them, have the inquiry and see if by some chance they can justify it, but there is no justification for the way they treated those residents.

I stated on the Order of Business this morning that we can train those people as much as we want, but we cannot train them to have compassion. We cannot train people to care and to love. It is a natural instinct. If people do not have those basic, fundamental qualities they should not be in the caring profession. We must not put those type of people in charge of our sick, our elderly and our children. That is not the job for them. I do not know the reason such people take up these jobs if they do not have that natural caring instinct. I know because I was in the caring profession, and I loved it. There is a vulnerability and an innocence about the people. Some of them suffering from Alzheimer's disease do not know their own children when they walk in the door. All one wants to do is hold them and hug them, and one has empathy for them because of that. To see a grown adult crying because his mother does not recognise him is heartbreaking. If someone does not have that basic, fundamental quality of compassion, these institutions are not place for them.

The Minister might update the House on the progress of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill and the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

We must learn from this, and we must do something about it. We must also be cautious about installing cameras in such care homes. We have to respect the residents' rights and their privacy. Where would such cameras be installed? Would it be in their bedrooms? Many of these people wear incontinent pads which must be changed regularly. We must preserve their dignity at all costs but must it always take someone from the media with a camera to go into these institutions and highlight what is happening?

Senator O'Brien has highlighted a complaint but I got a letter today, as I am sure did all Senators, from the Ombudsman telling us that-----