Do holidays come before humanity?

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern’s claim that the Health Service Executive believes it was duped by the operators of a Dublin nursing home engulfed in the latest scandal involving the elderly smacks of incompetence and is a limp excuse for what has been going on for years under the unseeing eyes of public servants.

Politicians may wring their hands, but the reality is that despite this and similar cases of neglect, Mr Ahern has set his face against extending the current Dáil session to frame emergency legislation.

Given the scandal at the nursing home, which is now under new management, there is something demeaning about the headlong rush from Dáil Éireann for the long summer break. Thus it will be the autumn before legislation is enacted. The implication is that TDs’ holidays come before the plight of the elderly.