dail | Mattie McGrath TD

“Reality of Elder Abuse must emerge from the shadows,” McGrath

11-11-2015

Independent TD Mattie McGrath is set to place a Private Members Bill dealing with the prevention and punishment of Elder Abuse before the Dáil today. Deputy McGrath will initiate the first stage of his Vulnerable Persons Bill 2015 after the Order of Business:

“This is an issue that I have come across time and again down through all the years that I have been a public representative.

We urgently need to have a national conversation around what is in the main an insidious and mostly secretive phenomenon that continues to plague elderly people in this State.

I have been in direct contact with advocacy sections of organisations like Age Action Ireland who are very supportive of the capacity of the PMB to create a space for debate on this matter at Government level.

Primarily the Bill will attempt to codify in law specific instances of elder abuse; particularly financial abuse of the elderly who may lack mental and physical capacity to guard against such abuse occurring.

It is my sincere hope that the Government will recommit to and reprioritise this issue given that the latest data we have demonstrates that from 2007 to 2013 alone there over 13,000 referrals of such abuse recorded and assessed by Senior Case Workers in the HSE.

The elderly are as we know a distinctly vulnerable group. To that extent we must target our legislative and legal resources at shoring up all the defences necessary that will give them greater protection and security of mind,” concluded Deputy McGrath.

ENDS

“Repair costs could be multiples of annual water charge,” McGrath

12-06-2-15

Independent TD Mattie McGrath has accused the Government of failing to address the difficulties families will face by being forced to pay exorbitant fees related to water pipe leakage. The point was one of many raised by Deputy McGrath during the course of a Dáil debate on his Water Services Amendment Private Members Bill which took place this morning:

“My Bill has been on the Dáil order paper for more than seven months now and during that time the Government have completely failed to address the hidden costs associated with the inevitable repair costs that families and households will face.

Minister Kelly has preferred to disingenuously focus instead on the illusion of affordability while all the time keeping hidden from public view the massive costs which will associated with call out charges and for which there be no grant available.

We are talking here of something in the order of between €120-170 per hour.

That kind of exorbitant repair rate could easily generate crippling bills on top of the existing water charge bill which would still have to be paid.

While I was delighted to have cross party support from all sections of the opposition I was very disappointed that the Government has signaled it will not support the passage of the Bill to Committee stage where we might have had an opportunity to find some way of mitigating these savage fees.

As it is the Government have decided that all is well with the current model operating in Irish Water and that safeguards abound for public protection.

That is a position which will continue to be sharply contested as the reality of the financial burden being placed on people becomes more and more clear,” concluded Deputy McGrath.

ENDS