Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 179: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if the alleged abuse or neglect of elderly patients suffering from dementia in our nursing homes is dealt with in any part of the 1945 Mental Treatment Act and the Mental Health Act 2001; the steps she intends to take to protect this vulnerable group either by using existing legislation or by providing new legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29524/06]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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The future direction and delivery of all aspects of our mental health services, including services for older people, were considered in the context of the work of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy. The Group's report entitled "A Vision for Change" was published on Tuesday 24th January, 2006. The Government has accepted the Expert Group's report as the basis for the future development of the mental health services.

The Expert Group considered the mental health needs of people in later life and made recommendations in relation to the development of a comprehensive range of services appropriate to their needs. It acknowledges that all users of mental health services are entitled to a range of services and that access to delivery of those services is crucial in the case of older people.

The implementation of the recommendations is primarily a matter for the HSE and they established an implementation group to plan and manage the full implementation of "A Vision for Change". An independent monitoring group has also been established to monitor progress in implementing the report's recommendations and to report on an annual basis.

As the Deputy may be aware, the report of the Working Group on Elder Abuse, 'Protecting Our Future', was published in 2002. One of the recommendations in the Report is the establishment of a National Implementation Group which was established in December 2003 to oversee the implementation of the recommendations outlined in the Report.

The Government is fully committed to developing the services needed to tackle elder abuse and in the period 2003-2005 provided additional funding of approximately €2.5 million towards the implementation of the Elder Abuse Programme. In Budget 2006 additional funding of €2m was allocated towards the elder abuse programme, which completes the funding requirements outlined in the Report, including the establishment of a National Research Centre.