Madam, - Mae Sexton, TD, has criticised me in these pages (February 3rd) for drawing attention in the Dáil to remarks made by her party leader, the Tánaiste Mary Harney, about the care of elderly people.
I am alleged to have misrepresented what she said, and to have done so in a way that deprived her of the opportunity to defend herself.
What I did, on the floor of the Dáil and in the presence of Ms Harney, was to quote directly and truthfully her remarks at a party conference, as quoted by Paul Cullen of this newspaper. She asked the conference: "I know this seems controversial, but is it fair that people require the State to pick up the bill, and then they get the benefits when people die?"
She went on to say that society was becoming increasingly greedy and too many families were leaving the responsibility for minding family members to the State or someone else. And, according to Mr Cullen, she concluded by telling The Irish Times after the seminar that she was calling for a "carrot and stick" approach which would both encourage and reward people for looking after their loved ones when they require care.
I have always believed that, in a strong community, the first priority in any family will be care for more vulnerable members. And I know that many families go to very considerable expense to ensure that care is always available, often without any State support. But remarks like those attributed to the Tánaiste are capable of only one construction.
When you say that families must take responsibility for their elderly members in order to save the taxpayers the expense, you are also saying that elderly people (the great majority of whom have paid PAYE and PRSI all their lives) should not object to being dependent, should not expect as much independence as they can muster, should not have any right to rely on the broader community for support.
This report was carried in The Irish Times on Saturday, January 17th. In the eleven days between then and my raising it in the Dáil, Mary Harney had plenty of opportunity to correct the record, but seemingly chose not to do so until I questioned the philosophy behind it.
Is Mae Sexton's point that Mary Harney did not say these things? Did The Irish Times make it up? Or is this just another example of the Tánaiste launching a critique of some sector of society, as she has done in the past on lone mothers and their parents, and then pretending she was being misunderstood? - Yours, etc.,
PAT RABBITTE, TD, Leader of the Labour Party, Dáil Éireann, Dublin 2.