Elderly policy patchy, says Harney

Michael O’Farrell

However, speaking before the Oireachtas Health Committee, Ms Harney said a working group, set up in conjunction with the Department of Social and Family affairs, would make recommendations by June.

Reacting to criticism from Labour’s Liz McManus and Fine Gael’s Liam Twomey, Ms Harney rejected suggestions the Government had no coherent policy on the elderly.

“We have policy, but it’s patchy,” she said.

However, she said the Government would implement change as soon as possible after the working group reported back.

“The Government is anxious to have a clear, coherent, understandable policy.”

Outlining spending plans for the Department of Health, Ms Harney revealed 380 million would be spent on hospitals in 2005.

However, she criticised the way such funding was not tracked properly and said a “major audit” of several hospitals would be carried out this year.

“We have got to see that we are going to get the best value for that money,” she said.