On behalf of Fianna Fáil, I welcome the Lord Mayor of Dublin. In my 12 years I think it is the first time our nearest neighbour and resident has come to visit us. It would be appropriate for me to say that, having been at school with him, I know him very well. It is good to see him here. His contribution and that of his family to enterprise and public service is second to none and one senses there is an air of inevitability about his participation in the Houses.

Despite having had a debate in Private Members' time last week, I join my colleague, Senator Mary White, in raising the care of the elderly. In response to Senator Michael Mullins, while there are good news items from time to time, as well as positive developments in respect of the statistics now available regarding economic recovery, what divides us politically is how these were achieved. There were choices, irrespective of troika involvement, the involvement of the European Union and so on. As was noted in the debate last week and as Senator Mary White has been highlighting clearly in her own work - she has produced a detailed paper on the matter - while going about these cuts, we have not covered ourselves in glory in respect of the care of the elderly. That is the key message. As was reflected in Labour Party policy, although it did not manage to get it included in the programme for Government, it is and was possible to have collected approximately €300 million from people earning more than €100,000 per year. However, we chose not to do that. The aforementioned €300 million could have left certain people over 70 years of age with their medical cards and could have retained the bereavement grant for families. It could have left in place a variety of measures. Despite the pride of Senator David Norris and all Members in the health professionals who work in the health services, the reality is that if one has an elderly relative, one should not put him or her into hospital unless one can be in there with that person for 24 hours a day, because there are not enough front-line staff available to take care of such relatives in a scenario where a single nurse must deal with ten people.

Absolutely.

I will conclude with an example concerning a person who has since deceased. A vomiting bug prevented a lady from visiting her husband, who unfortunately was terminally ill and was going to die. When she was allowed to return to the hospital after a three-day absence, she found him in the same pyjamas, which were stained and to be frank, she found him sitting in his own urine, which was and is completely unacceptable. While the statistics and the bottom line may be coming right - of course all Members celebrate this - the reality is that choices were made in achieving it that were unnecessary. Choices were made that were not in the best interests of elderly people or the less well-off. That is sad and is something of which Members on both sides of both Houses can be ashamed. Members must begin to do something about it.