I recently read in a newspaper an article concerning a report on the elderly and was appalled to find that the Minister and the Department which commissioned the report subsequently left it for 12 months without taking action. Why did the Minister sit on the report for one year? What has he done about the recommendations in the report during that period? As many as 12,000 older people, or 3 per cent, are subject to abuse. Forms of abuse include slapping, threatening, starvation and isolation. Abuse occurs both in the home and in institutions. Older people are unlikely to report abuse out of shame and fear, something which has been proven in the report.
Inspectoral procedures for publicly run institutions for older people should be introduced as a matter of priority. Private nursing homes are already inspected and it is time public nursing homes and institutions were also inspected.
Shortage of beds means that lower quality private nursing homes can continue to thrive. A representative working party should be set up immediately in the Department of Health and Children to advise the Minister on the next step to take in tackling the problem. I recommend the establishment of a number of group homes, particularly in towns and villages in the west where marriage rates were low in the 1930s and 1940s and when thousands of people emigrated. Many such people are left in isolation and fear, afraid for their safety. They are being robbed and abused by all sorts of people who come to the west late at night and leave early in the morning. The Minister should examine the possibility of homes for such people in their own villages and towns so that neighbours and friends can visit.
Abuse is a serious matter. There would be uproar if 12,000 young children were being abused. If 12,000 young adults were abused, the matter would be raised every morning on the Order of Business. What is wrong with a society which will not look after the elderly? The elderly have made a major contribution to the State and should be cared for. They should not have to live in fear or in circumstances where they are abused. The Government and all State agencies should assist them. A person who reaches the age of 70 years, regardless of resources, should have a free medical card and free health care.
Deputy Noonan, as Minister, commissioned this report and it is outrageous that it was left on the desk of Deputy Cowen, a senior Minister, for over a year without being published.
If we were told that 12,000 people were being abused in some Third World country the British, the Americans, our Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Government would be telling dictatorships what they should be doing and asking why nothing was being done. What is being done for our elderly people? What recommendations in the report will the Minister accept? We should not be afraid to look after the elderly and we must take steps to ensure that when people reach 70 or 75 years of age they are looked after by the State. I do not think anybody would complain, particularly given the current state of the economy, the money available and the record tax receipts. What is wrong with supporting the people who helped found and build the State? The least these people should have is the opportunity to live in comfort and style and not be afraid.
It is outrageous that 12,000 elderly people can be abused in this era of the Celtic tiger and that we are not protecting the weak in society.
