Care for the elderly - Policy change a welcome if belated move

It remains to be seen whether the new Government policy on care for the elderly will prove to be the fair deal which it has been billed by Health Minister Mary Harney.

To be as good as she stipulated it will be, would require a veritable quantum leap from the “scrappy, inconsistent and unfair system” that even the Minister admits exists today.

That system has been in place for the past 13 years and a very sceptical public would have to be forgiven for harbouring the thought that the looming General Election is the major consideration behind the decision to change it.