20,000 may be suffering abuse by relatives

THE number of elderly people who are being financially, physically, sexually or emotionally abused by members of their own family could be 10 times higher than official records show, a senior HSE officer has conceded.

The claim was made by Con Pierce, the HSE South’s dedicated officer for elder abuse.

He told the Irish Examiner that while 1,840 allegations of serious abuse of over-65s were made last year, the real national level could be between 14,000 to 20,000, with as many as 7,000 cases in Munster alone.