Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 26:

In page 17, to delete line 30 and substitute the following:"and to reside in the place of his or her choice in so far as that is practicable,".

Section 8 sets out the guiding principles, inherent in which is the minimisation of the restrictions on relevant persons. The principles include respect for the right to dignity, bodily integrity, privacy, autonomy and control of financial affairs. These are important rights but a fundamental right that should be included as a guiding principle is the right to reside in a place of one's own choice where that is practicable. This right for older persons is included in section 2 of the Council of Europe recommendations 2014 on the promotion of the human rights of older people and provides that older persons are entitled to lead their lives independently in a self-determined and autonomous manner. This encompasses,inter alia, the taking of independent decisions with regard to all issues which concern them, including those regarding their property, income, finances, place of residence, health, medical treatment or care. Older persons, in principle, should only be placed in a residential institution or psychiatric care with their free and informed consent and any exception to this principle must fulfil the requirements of Article 5.43 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular the right to liberty and security.

With regard to people with disabilities, the right to choose a place of residence is set out in Article 19(a) of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities 2007, which provides, "Persons with disabilities have the opportunity to choose their place of residence and where and with whom they live on an equal basis with others and are not obliged to live in a particular living arrangement". Too often, current practice is not to afford the opportunity to a person to exercise his or her right to make a choice as to whether he or she would like to reside and not to consider what options and support are available and could be put in place in respect of the choice being made. The spirit of the legislation requires us to do this and I would like the Minister of State to accept the amendment. The inclusion of this right in the guiding principles will at least prompt the interventor to consider this right before making arrangements that are contrary to the wishes and preferences of the relevant person. Each person's well-being and happiness, which we continually forget, should be the standard that society aspires to.

I know the Minister of State understands this better than anybody but we seem to think that as one gets older, one becomes a bigger economy. Although they are necessary and do good work, too many care and residential homes are being built and not enough is being done to keep people in their own homes if that is what they wish and if that is practicable. There is such a concept as the appropriateness of a home. More residential settings or residential beds for the elderly are not needed because we have enough. The Minister of State will be aware of residential institutions that are a home within a home all over Ireland. Older people have to be free and they should never be incubated.

I mentioned the last time we discussed this topic in the House that if one left a dog on its own for three days, the ISPCA would be rapping on the door to find out why one did that. Older people do not bark enough for attention but we accept that they are deserving of more than one hour's human contact per day.We accept that older people are deserving of more than one hour of human contact per day. We should stop segregating them. There is a kind of an apartheid in how we treat older people. That is why I tabled this amendment which I hope the Minister of State will accept. It proposes the inclusion of the words "to reside in the place of his or her choice in so far as that is practicable". It is not always medically practical or possible but it should be a choice. We have the money to keep people in homes that cost a €1,000 a week for their care but we do not have the same amount of money to keep them within the community. I do not understand that and that is reason I tabled this amendment.

I know the Minister of State understands this point but the fair deal scheme should start in the home. People should be able to stay in their homes to which the fair deal scheme should apply. It should not only apply if people go into a care or an institutionalised setting. The Minister of State is very aware of my views on this. This issue has become very apparent to me. Sometimes things do not become apparent until they hit one right between the eyes with ageing parents. One of the findings from a small study I did recently of the Civil Service is that the mean age of the staff is 46 and many of them spend a great deal of their lives caring for elderly parents. We will all do it and we will all face our own mortality and growing old.

I would like the Minister of State to consider including this amendment. Inherent in that guiding principle section is the bodily integrity of the human being and the protection of finance but we must protect people in their homes and we must protect their decision-making in regard to the place they want to reside. This brings up the point other Senators made about ensuring people are not being cared for by strangers who make decisions on the hoof. I would like the Minister of State to consider this genuine amendment.