Mary Harney criticised following Prime Time revelations

Minister for health Mary Harney has come under fire from members of the opposition, after abuse of the elderly by private healthcare organizations was uncovered.

After a four-month investigation, RTE’s Prime Time exposed horrific abuse by private companies, including theft, force-feeding and a failure on the part of companies to vet their employees.

Harney’s efforts at privatising the health service have come in for severe criticism following these revelations.

"These appalling revelations demand immediate answers and immediate action from the Minister for Health and Children," Sinn Fein’s Caoimhghin O Caolain said.

"I will be raising this scandal in the Dáil and be calling for a special debate and real assurance to older people that they will not be prey to those whose only motive is greed and profit, a situation brought about by the Government's policy of privatising health and social services."

The Labour Party’s health spokesman Jan O’Sullivan was also critical, saying that she was “horrified with what I saw, and my heart goes out to those people who we witnessed suffering degradation, humiliation and abuse at the hands of these so-called care providers."

"In particular, her twin-track of approach of privatisation of services on the one hand and the moratorium on recruitment in the HSE on the other has created a situation where the HSE is simply not in a position to meet the demands that are being placed on them.

"And where the slack has to be taken up by a sector that is completely unregulated; where workers are not vetted; and where there are no codes of conduct.

"It is clear that we need statutory regulation of this sector as a matter of urgency."