Edwin Poots
South Belfast · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I call Mr Eóin Tennyson. Again, this is Mr Tennyson's first opportunity to speak as a private Member, so I remind the House that it is convention that a maiden speech be made without interruption. However, if you choose to express views that provoke an interruption, you are likely to forfeit that protection.”
“Sorry — Ms Armstrong. My apologies. <BR /> <BR />That the Assembly could, in some way, get that money out when it is a UK Government responsibility. The UK Government have distributed it directly in Scotland and Wales, not through the Welsh Parliament and not through the Scottish Parliament.”
“I have not got time; I am sorry. <BR /> <BR />Ursula von der Leyen, who was in the Republic last week, made some of the most ridiculous claims about the British Government, who have supported Ukraine in a way that no other Government in Europe have and who have never engaged in the activity that was suggested by Ursula von der Leyen.”
“Today, a lot of statements have been made but there has not been a lot of fact behind a lot of what has been said. We have Michelle O'Neill, who walked out of her role as Health Minister — not for six months but for three years — and abandoned her position when we had Bengoa and there were all the problems with nursing that led to the str…”
“I need to deal with the issues first. <BR /> <BR />He referred to the Budget that he produced. No party supported that Budget. The Alliance Party did not support it, because it did not cover policing and prisons. Infrastructure did not support it, because it would not allow it to do the basics of what had to be done.”
“We had a circumstance where Sinn Féin repeated, month after month after month, that there were hundreds of millions to give to the public when that did not exist and when, in reality, Minister Murphy was racking up debt that will roll into next year, which will ensure that that will be a difficult financial year.”
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“Those nurses have immense expertise in very carefully going through a process with people who are in the midst of the most awful grief, steering them through that process and encouraging many of them to willingly have organs donated. Those nurses cherish their ability to deal with people in a pastoral way, a caring way and a way that puts the family at the centre of the decision-making process for their loved one. Those specialist nurses indicated to me that they did not want this tool, which was seen as the big state stepping in and saying, "These organs really belong to us anyway, so we are just going to move in here." That is not how they want to do it, and it is not how they believe they will get the best results. <BR /> <BR />I accept that the motivation behind the Bill is good. We all want to see people's lives saved.”
“One of the reasons why I wanted to speak in this debate, albeit briefly, is that I was particularly struck by something when I was Health Minister. We held a full-day session on organ donation at the MAC a couple of years ago, and we had all the key players there. The closer you get to the intensive care units and the medical people who are dealing with individuals and families who have a tragedy on their hands and have to deal with death, the less inclined they are to go down this route. They are very clear about that. <BR /> <BR />In the Belfast Trust, we have six specialist nurses for organ donation (SNODs) who are available at all times to be called upon when it is evident that someone is going to die.”
“Therefore, if we are going to radically change that, we need to be very cautious that we are doing the right thing, not just that we are doing it for the right reasons, because that is not in contest here.”
“Many people in other parts of the United Kingdom are quite envious of the willingness of people in Northern Ireland to donate their organs. We are privileged to have one of the best kidney transplantation teams in the world. It was reported recently that a record number of transplants was carried out here in little Northern Ireland in one day; I think that it was six, equalling somewhere in the United States — five — and that is a demonstration of the fantastic people that we have, the skills that exist and the ability of Northern Ireland to do this really well. That goes back to the days of Professor McGeown and Dr Douglas, who started off organ donation. Indeed, my uncle received his transplant from him very many years ago. <BR /> <BR />We can be very proud of what has been achieved and what is being achieved.”
“I, too, will be brief. It is an important subject, and I welcome the fact that we are having this debate. The motivation behind the Bill is good and the principle behind it is soundly based. Is it the right legislation? I very much doubt it. I think that, even if you were to accept the principles of the Bill, it would require substantial amendment, and I accept that, in fairness, that is what the Committee would and should be doing. Do I think that the actual principle of the Bill is right? At this stage, I am not convinced. We need to proceed very carefully and with extreme caution on this hugely sensitive issue. <BR /> <BR />In Northern Ireland, we have an excellent record on organ donation, both live donation and deceased donor donation.”
“<BR /> <BR />I have taken my family on holiday to France many times, and we have spent many wonderful times in that beautiful country. Today, we stand with the people of France. Vive la France, vive la liberté.”
“Of the 129 people who are reported dead, eight of those are not innocent victims but murdering terrorists, and we must always remember that. Those people are not in the same classification as the innocent victims in Paris from many parts of the world. <BR /> <BR />We need to reflect on our policies. Mr McCrea and Mr Allister spoke about that from different angles, but the foolishness of opening up borders without having any checks or balances is ludicrously stupid. We need to be compassionate to people who are in desperate situations, and we need to support them, but allowing an absolute free flow across our borders without any checks or balances being put in place will inevitably lead to more people with a terrorist background coming into Europe. That is totally unacceptable.”
“As we all realised the scale of what happened on Friday evening, we were shocked and stunned at the events. The fact that so many people lost their lives is something that we should all draw on, as well as the pain that has been caused to all the families that are involved. Such an unmitigated waste of human life is an absolute tragedy. <BR /> <BR />It makes us think back a little to the 7/7 murders that took place in London and the 9/11 murders in New York, which emanated from similar sources. A little further back, we go back to the murders in Omagh, Teebane, on Bloody Friday, in McGurk's bar, and the Shankill bombing. These things are all the same; they all happen when someone else thinks that they have a right, for a cause, to go out and take other people's lives — innocent people's lives.”
“Is it not the case, Minister, that your Department has had to deal with severe cuts in its funding, not least because £10 million a month of fines were being paid back to Westminster as a result of the failure to implement the Stormont House Agreement and welfare reform? This is a consequence. The cuts to Irish language budgets and Irish language at universities are a direct consequence of Sinn Féin's actions in ensuring that those fines are sent to Westminster instead of being spent on universities?”
“I am delighted that the Minister can stay for more than two questions today. In terms of this particular report and statement; the Minister has been in position, in charge of prisons, for over six years now and he has appointed the leadership team. Do you not accept that the leadership team, which has been a revolving door of Englishmen coming over to run the prisons, has been totally detached from the prison itself and that it is wholly disingenuous of you to scapegoat two people who were in position for less than a year for this damning report on Maghaberry prison?”
“<BR /> <BR />Enough is enough. People in the farming community need support, and they need it now. They are fed up hearing from this Minister, from her Department and from her party that they are incapable of doing anything. If they are incapable of doing the job, perhaps they should not bother doing the job.”
“The European Union is not holding the Minister back from ensuring that farmers' cash flow is improved by getting that money out earlier. <BR /> <BR />Mrs O'Neill referred to how they have been handling animal health issues. There has been an absolute failure from this Minister and the previous Minister to deal with the problem of TB — there has been a Sinn Féin Minister throughout — because they have a greater affection for badgers than for the people they are supposed to be serving. <BR /> <BR />Pig farmers should be selling their offal to China, which would be worth around £3 million a year to Northern Ireland farmers, but that is not happening because a document that was supposed to have been signed off has not been signed off. What work is going on between DEFRA and the Department to ensure that the issue gets over the line?”
“I expect that farms will be sold on the back of what is happening. Meanwhile, the Minister's strategy is Going for Growth. It is about moving headquarters, so we will spend £40 million here and we will spend £35 million on a new computer system. That is not all. Let me make this very clear: that is not all capital spend — a considerable amount is recurrent spend, and that is where the money could come from to assist farmers. Money that is being spent recurrently on those things could be going to the farmers. <BR /> <BR />Where is the market support? Where is the opportunity to delve into hardship payments for farmers? Direct payments in October would help farmers' cash flow when they face huge bills for conacre and from agricultural contractors. Bills that all have to be settled at that time of year.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am getting plenty of complaints from sheep farmers about the poor prices that they are receiving. Vegetable, potato and cereal farmers are suffering as well. Right across the board, prices for produce are lower than they should be. Mrs O'Neill's great strategy is to send out dairy advisers. She is sending dairy advisers to farmers who could teach the dairy advisers what to do. When farmers in the top 10% or 15% of producers in the United Kingdom are losing money hand over fist, they do not need a dairy adviser to tell them what to do. They need cash in their pockets — not platitudes, which is what we are getting from Sinn Féin. <BR /> <BR />Many farmers are at breaking point. Farms that have been in families for generations — generations — could be sold as a consequence of the current agriculture crisis.”
“Consequently, people are suffering, and people will go out of business. <BR /> <BR />I was out in my constituency, as I am regularly, speaking to farmers. One man asked me, "Edwin, is there nothing that can be done to help us?" In my heart of hearts, I know that things that can be done to help that man — there are things — but they are not being done. The problem that I have with the Minister, the Department, DEFRA and the European Union is that there are things that can be done at every level to help the agriculture community. I am not referring purely to dairy farmers: many of the farmers in the glens of Antrim whom Mr McMullan is supposed to represent are getting badly punished when selling their lambs this year, and Mr McMullan thinks that Mrs O'Neill is doing a wonderful job.”
“No, I will not give way to Mr McMullan. My time is curtailed, and we have heard quite a bit from him. He has become an apologist for the inaction that has taken place. All that we get from Mr McMullan is constant criticism of DEFRA. Tell me: has DEFRA set the intervention price? Is it a British DEFRA Minister or is it an Irish commissioner in the European Union? Mr McMullan concentrates his political stabbing at the British Minister who is letting us down, but he never actually speaks about the Irish commissioner, who is letting us down more than anybody at this point. Phil Hogan is letting dairy farmers down by not raising the intervention price and by not making the case for the intervention price to be raised.”
“I am hugely disappointed that the response from this Minister is little better than the response that we saw from the lords and baronesses who were over here as direct rule Ministers. That is harsh, but I am afraid that it is factual. <BR /> <BR />The farming community and I are sick, sore and tired of hearing what cannot be done. We cannot do the single farm payment before December because the European Commission does not allow it. Then the European Commission tells us that it is allowed: 70% of it can happen from October. However, when the Department is told that it can be done, it will not be done. There is a difference between "cannot" and "will not" do something. I am afraid that, at this point, it is more the case of will not do something —”
“Thank you, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker. I will endeavour to conclude by 2.00 pm. <BR /> <BR />I think that I am the youngest Member to speak thus far, aside from the Minister, but I have been in politics since 1996, including during the BSE crisis and all that; I go right back to that time. I am the only Member elected here from 1998 throughout the period, so I have been through a few agriculture crises in my time — Mr Dallat has been here, too — and I have seen how people have responded over the years. During the 1996 BSE crisis, we had many meetings with the then Ministers who were dealing with the issues, and they were generally junior Ministers who were lords.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I hear all that you are saying. However, the reality is that, in effect, we are not taking one single additional penny from the Westminster Government. What we are actually doing is dipping in to the Health, Education, DSD, DRD and every other Departments' budgets and putting it into a subsidised welfare system that is not available anywhere else in the United Kingdom.”
“I would have liked to have seen a warmer spirit being demonstrated by the Minister this afternoon. We will move forward to the new Justice Bill and look at the banded system within it. I have no doubt that there will be another amendment drawn up in relation to young shooters, which the Minister will be well entitled to oppose. Nonetheless, we will hopefully arrive at a consistent position. <BR /> <BR />With your permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, we will beg leave to withdraw amendment Nos 11, 12, 15, 17, 20 and 21. I look forward to real progress being made in the latter days of this Assembly on this issue, which will be to the good of people who participate in sports and of shooters in general, who are good people who want to do their best for Northern Ireland.”
“I believe that it can: the efficiencies exist if they are sought. I hope that the generous offer that has been put on the table will be reciprocated. <BR /> <BR />This could have been resolved a number of years ago. We have been talking about fees for three or four years, and the fact that we have been arguing about £88 and £98 for three or four years while we continue with £50 does not make much sense to people outside the Department of Justice and the Minister. I trust that we will get to a position soon where we have a better fees system that is accepted by the sportspeople, by the agricultural community and by the guild, and that, as a consequence, we can move forward. <BR /> <BR />I welcome where we have got to, and I welcome the good spirit with which people have approached this in people from the Department coming to the Committee.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. Representatives from the sporting organisations and the guild have been exceptionally generous in the fee model that they have proposed, in that it proposes higher fees in most instances than is the case across the other constabularies in England, Scotland and Wales. Consequently, it is for DFP and Minister Ford to ask the PSNI why its demands are so much higher and why it cannot achieve the efficiencies that others appear to achieve through full cost recovery.”
“I thank the Minister for that clarification. I am always willing to act as a go-between for the SDLP and the Alliance Party. In any event, everybody knows me to be a peacemaker. <BR /> <BR />It has been made clear that the fees can be set through an order, which is probably the best place to do that, and, therefore, we understand that.”
“I thank Mr McGlone for raising that point. If the Minister wants to respond at some point, I will be happy to take an intervention.”
“The reality is that the two pieces of legislation could run concurrently, and there could be two systems in place. We might not choose to push this to a vote today — that remains to be seen — but, in theory, the two pieces of legislation could run concurrently, and two different standards could be set. It would be awkward and require some tidying up at a later stage, but it could be done. I am glad that there was a degree of qualification on the banded system. I know that Mr McGlone has one further query and might wish to raise it now”
“That is absolutely right. The Alliance Party and the Minister are perfectly entitled to take the position that they have adopted on young people using firearms. Indeed, I believe that Sinn Féin is opposed to reducing the age for young people to use firearms — a somewhat peculiar position for Sinn Féin. Nonetheless, we are perfectly comfortable with the legal use of firearms for hunting, shooting clay pigeons and so forth. They are entitled to take that position, and we are entitled to put forward our position. I understand that there is a technicality. Minister Ford quoted the legislation. The interesting word, when he was referring to 14-year-olds having to be supervised by a person aged at least 21, was "or"; it was not "and/or".”
“If we had the same responsibility when our young people are being taught to drive as we have instilled into them when they are taught how to use a firearm, we would be in a better place. I see that the Minister of the Environment, who has responsibility for road safety, is here.”
“<BR /> <BR />Somebody referred to sporting achievements, David Calvert and so forth. I have often heard it said after the Commonwealth Games, "Typical Northern Ireland; they're good at the fighting and the shooting, aren't they?" Normally, boxing and shooting do very well. Both those sports take young people and teach them responsibility at a very early point in life. Both those sports deserve respect for the work that they do with young people. There are few accidents with guns — they can happen, and they can be lethal — because young people are taught responsibility. This is a lethal weapon; this is how you must handle this weapon; and you must always treat it with the outmost respect and care.”
“Had I brought Hansard with me and read Mr Dickson's questions, which were raised in a very negative way, and the comprehensive answers that were given to Mr Dickson — it would have been useful if Mr Lyttle had read those before he spoke — he would have seen that every issue that Mr Dickson raised with BASC, the Countryside Alliance and the guild was dealt with comprehensively. Mr Lyttle referred to the Deer Society, as did the Minister, as if that organisation had credibility: it has something like 25 members. The other organisations that we are talking about have a membership of a quarter of a million. So the Alliance Party may hang its hat on some organisation that operates out of a roof space with one man and his dog. We are listening to the people who know the sport and act very responsibly.”
“I welcome the opportunity to make the winding-up speech on this issue. It has been a useful debate. Nonetheless, I do not think that we should be in this situation. I think that, if the Department of Justice had had a mind to move things forward, we could have been in a much better place a long time ago, but it has been dragging its feet, and, as a result, it was necessary to bring the issue to the table by lodging the amendments that we are debating this afternoon. <BR /> <BR />Mr Lyttle took the liberty of speaking for Mr Dickson.”
“Frankly, it is unacceptable that Members of the Assembly should be treated in that way by members of the public, and we need to have a system in place that deals with that. At this moment, it does not appear that that is the case.”
“I ask that those matters are looked at and addressed because, when I asked the security folks to look at it, they indicated that this was a public part of the Building and that they had no authority to deal with it. <BR /> <BR />I do not think that it is acceptable for any Member of the Assembly, whether nationalist, republican, unionist or whatever, to be attacked in the way in which Members were attacked last week. I want to avoid that situation or circumstance happening again. I can identify two of the individuals who were involved. I personally witnessed Mark Thompson from Relatives for Justice being particularly aggressive. It was a lady who launched the assault on me, and I could quite easily identify her were the opportunity to arise.”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On exiting the Building last week after the debate on collusion, I was berated, as were other Members of the Assembly, by members of the public. I witnessed Mr Maginness being berated quite badly. I was berated. I went on about my business and did not respond, and then was told to rot in hell. Subsequently, other Members had to actually leave the Great Hall because of the hostility that was being demonstrated towards them, including members of my party and members of the SDLP. I note that, when people are given temporary passes to enter the Building, they are supposed to adhere to a behavioural code.”
“I have not heard the arguments to support that. I have heard a little bit of nitpicking, but I have not heard of qualitative arguments to oppose it. As I said, I am hugely disappointed that a petition of concern was used to block this particular amendment, which is about protecting vulnerable, elderly people who have supported us and provided for us over the years and who we should be providing support and care for now that we are in a position to do it.”
“One of the cases that it made was that mandatory sentencing had increased costs by 66% whilst driving down crime by only 30%. I would consider that to be a price well worth paying. In the next Assembly mandate, I would love it if we were able to achieve a 30% reduction in crime and, in particular, a significant reduction in crime against our elderly population. <BR /> <BR />We all have a vested interest — I always said this in my previous job — in looking after the elderly, because unless we happen to die whilst we are relatively young, we will make it at some stage to being elderly ourselves. We should do everything in our power to provide that care and support for and to show that respect to our elderly community. <BR /> <BR />I have heard quite a few people saying tonight that the amendment is ill-thought-out.”
“This is not going to go through tonight because of the petition of concern, but I would be quite happy to debate those issues, as we are going to have another piece of justice legislation coming to the House. I welcome that this is now being debated and that these views are being aired. There may well be a sentencing Bill coming to the House as well. So, I will be happy to test the appropriate time, but I certainly think that the lower end of the scale does not give the indication of support to our elderly community. It does not have the deterrent factor that a period like seven years would have. Therefore, I think that that is an appropriate sentencing period. <BR /> <BR />I noted that in British Columbia, a civil liberties group carried out a piece of work that was very critical of mandatory sentencing and sought to run it down.”
“He raised the case, and the exceptionality clause is there when, for example, an individual may have been engaged in an act of sexual molestation against a young person. That young person's father may have decided to take the law into his own hands, wrongly, and attacked that elderly person, who may have been 66 or 67 years of age. Of course the judge should have the ability to give consideration to the exceptionality of a case like that. There are many other cases that could be cited in which it should be left to the wisdom of judges, but those things should happen in exceptional cases. <BR /> <BR />Mr Maginness asked this question: why seven years? Why not two years, four years or 10 years?”
“Those are the main reasons for mandatory sentencing. <BR /> <BR />I see that Mr Allister is amongst us, and he raised a very important issue the last time. That is why, when I brought this amendment to the House, I brought it forward as a presumptive mandatory sentence.”
“It recognises that legislatures are very often better positioned than judges to make types of judgements on penalties and that legislatures have the authority to make moral and empirical decisions about how conduct should be sanctioned. Mandatory minimum sentences address two widely acknowledged problems: sentencing disparity and unduly lenient sentences. Mandatory minimum sentences prevent crime because certain and severe punishment has a deterrent effect whether we like it or whether we do not. They are an important law enforcement tool, supplying the police and prosecutors with leverage to secure cooperation and testimony of low-level offenders against more senior confederates. Imprisonment reduces the number of future victims of crime and reduces that cost that the rest of society would otherwise suffer.”
“Similarly, the Minnesota sentencing guidelines include among aggravating factors the fact that the victim was particularly vulnerable due to age, infirmity or reduced physical or mental capacity and that the offender knew or should have known of that vulnerability. Very clearly, in other places, minimum sentences are not unusual and, indeed, offences that have involved the elderly are taken into account. <BR /> <BR />Other countries that have minimum sentences include Canada, Australia and New Zealand; countries that are not regarded as being particularly draconian but where good practice is followed in law. <BR /> <BR />Mandatory sentences reflect a societal judgement that certain offences demand a specified minimum sanction and ensure that anyone who commits such a crime cannot avoid punishment.”
“What we are calling for is mandatory sentences for violent attacks on the elderly. I would have thought that violent attacks on the elderly were considerably more important than dumping waste, for example, in Baltimore harbour. That is accepted in other areas. <BR /> <BR />For aggravating factors in sentencing guidelines, research has identified that, in federal law again, sentencing guidelines allow for victim-related adjustments to be made. The guidelines provide that, if the defendant knew that the victim of the offence was a vulnerable victim, the sentence should be increased by two levels. A vulnerable victim is defined as a person who is unusually vulnerable due to age, physical or mental condition or who is otherwise particularly susceptible to criminal conduct.”
“In the United States of America, federal law has mandatory sentences for certain immigration offences; identity theft; sexual offences against children; production, possession or use of fire or explosives; airplane hijacking; obstruction of justice; illegal food stamp activity; kidnapping; hostage taking; bank robbery; racketeering and organised crime; fraud, bribery and white-collar crime; piracy; certain types of assault or battery; assault of a US serviceman; interference with Civil Service examinations; stalking and violation of a restraining order; treason; failure to report seaboard saloon purchases; practice of pharmacy and sale of poisons in China; navigable water regulation violation; deposit of refuse or obstruction of navigable waterways; deposit of refuse in New York or Baltimore harbours; violation of the Merchant Marine Act; refusal to operate railroad or telegraph lines; and so it goes on.”
“In England and Wales, there are prescribed mandatory sentences for certain offences, including firearms offences, repeat drug trafficking, domestic burglary offences and certain offensive weapons offences. In Scotland, there are mandatory minimum sentences for some firearms and drugs offences.”
“If someone is massively over the drink-driving limit, they will lose their licence for at least 12 months; if someone is over the drink-driving limit by a minuscule amount, they will lose their licence for at least 12 months. That is mandatory sentencing in effect. I have not heard a public outcry saying that we need to get away from this mandatory sentence that is imposed on people who drink and drive. It is widely and strongly supported, and Members would do well to recognise that.”
“I know that Mr Maginness understands that very fully. <BR /> <BR />Mandatory sentencing is not peculiar or odd. Sinn Féin has stated the position that it is generally not keen on mandatory sentencing. As Mr Givan rightly pointed out, it is using the excuse that this is coming at Further Consideration Stage and, therefore, it is expressing its views through the petition of concern. Mr Givan indicated during the abortion debate that Sinn Féin said that its approach was two-pronged and that its approach on this one is two-pronged and that Sinn Féin is against mandatory sentencing per se. We have mandatory sentencing for drunk driving here.”
“To lodge a petition of concern on that issue is significant abuse. In the past, this party has sometimes been lectured by others about abusing petitions of concern, but it is a significant abuse of the petition of concern process to use it to stop legislation that would offer greater protection to our elderly population and community. <BR /> <BR />Mr Maginness raised the issue of the level of assault. I know that he has practised in the Bar for many years while he has not been in politics. I do not need to explain to him the difference between common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. We are talking here about assault occasioning actual bodily harm. This is not about common assault; it is about violent offences against older people. That should be quite clear as it is written up in paragraph (3).”
“<BR /> <BR />Sadly, in 2013, 4,766 crimes were perpetrated against our elderly people. I will repeat that: 4,766 crimes. Of those, about 200 involved violent attacks, 54 were robberies, 27 were sexual offences; there were 150 cases of fraud and 1,154 burglaries. And so it goes on. That is clearly unacceptable, but it is even more unacceptable that only 4% of those cases were brought to court. Does anybody honestly believe that we are doing enough to protect our elderly population? I do not. <BR /> <BR />I was somewhat surprised when I heard that a petition of concern was launched today, because who are we seeking to protect through the amendment? Elderly, vulnerable people in our community who have been subjected to violent attacks, normally by thugs or some other person who cares little for the well-being of our older population.”
“That attack happened at Blacks Road. I can recall very vividly when a couple on the Causeway End Road in Lisburn were attacked and the man was badly beaten. Indeed, he died a relatively short time thereafter. <BR /> <BR />We need to take into account that those things are happening in our community, and we need to do something about them. The Programme for Government recognised that and indicated that more needed to be done to protect our elderly. Indeed, a motion was passed in the Assembly in November 2011 calling for tougher sentencing for those who attack our elderly. Here we are, almost four years later, and that has not happened. I know that the courts have been doing bits and pieces, but the legislature has not taken action on the issue. That action has not happened in the Executive.”
“I was reading through transcripts from my local paper from days gone by and came across the headline, "Elderly couple attacked in their home". The article states:”
“One can consider the issues in a very clinical way, or one can look at the circumstances of our elderly people and the care and protection that society should provide for them. That is a significant duty that falls upon us. It falls upon us as a legislature, and it falls upon the Police Service, the Public Prosecution Service and the Courts and Tribunals Service. We all have to act in unison to ensure that we protect our elderly so that they do not become prisoners in their own homes. We must ensure that, as a society, we cherish and care for them.”