Government ‘dragging heels’ on elder abuse

THE Government has been accused of dragging its heels in implementing measures to protect vulnerable older people from abuse.

Consultant geriatrician and the head of the Government’s Elder Abuse National Implementation Group, Professor Des O’Neill criticised the lack of progress in taking action to detect and prevent elder abuse – particularly financial abuse.

“In general terms, the Department of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive have done very well in this area but there has been a failure by the rest of government, particularly the Department of Finance and the financial sector, to step up to the plate,” he told a conference on elder abuse in Dublin yesterday.