Sotto Voce: This was brought to the attention of many of us over the last few days and weeks and raises many questions but most important of all makes me tink of that saying about how a society is judged acording to how it treats its elderly.....HEALTH chiefs are investigating a complaint that a home help bullied an elderly man into buying her food, presents and dinner, and charged him to collect his pension.
The Irish Independent has learned that the Health Service Executive (HSE) has launched a formal investigation after receiving a complaint from a third party about the treatment of the 82-year-old.
The pensioner, who lived in north Dublin, was being helped by an employee of a company to which the HSE sub-contracts work. It was alleged that his home help had:
* failed to turn up on days she was due to work;
* charged him €10 to take him shopping;
* charged him €10 to collect his pension, as well as for parking charges;
* bullied him into buying sweets for her children at a cost of up to €30 a time;
* borrowed money to cover her own shopping costs;
* demanded that she and her children be taken for dinner on her birthday.
Last night Fr Joseph Ryan - who was made aware of the issue by a neighbour of the pensioner - said he was furious at the way the complaint had been handled.
He claimed that he was repeatedly fobbed off by the HSE, and told that he was "not a reputable source" and that therefore it would not be investigating.
"The elderly man was afraid of his home help but he was also afraid to lose it because he fought so hard for it," said Fr Ryan from his home in Ennis, Co Clare last night.
"I contacted the HSE in July but then they told me they couldn't entertain the allegation," he added.
The HSE has strenuously denied this, saying that all complaints are taken seriously.
The home help allegedly charged him €10 to collect his pension, as well as for parking charges
"We have received the complaint and it is being fully investigated," a spokeswoman said.
"We have received the complaint and it is being fully investigated," a spokeswoman said.
She "doubted very much" that Fr Ryan had been told he wasn't a reputable source. The spokeswoman added that the investigation was ongoing.
The man has since died. There is no connection between his death and the alleged treatment by the home help.
A concerned neighbour, who knew the deceased man, approached Fr Ryan with concerns about his treatment.
"She [the home help] brought him shopping every week at a charge of €10 every time and to collect his pension, €10, and parking charges and sweets for kids that was €30 some weeks, and sometimes more," she wrote.
"There was constant pressure for him to pay for her shopping and she borrowed money from him to cover her own shopping."
Fr Ryan said the woman who came looking for help did so because she "feared for her own safety". She wrote to him: "This lady is a danger to the elderly."
The HSE declined to give any information on the nature of the investigation. It said that it subcontracts home help in Dublin and "some other urban areas".
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