A barrister has called for mandatory three-year jail sentences for people who seriously assault an older person.
Mr Jim O'Callaghan, who is running for Fianna Fáil in the local elections in Dublin, has drafted a Bill on the issue, and sent a copy to the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, last week.
The Assaults on Elderly Persons' Bill would impose a minimum three-year sentence on a person who grievously assaults anyone aged over 60, or threatens to kill or cause serious harm to such a person.
It would also impose a mandatory sentence on anyone who attacks an older person with a syringe.
Mr O'Callaghan said society registered disgust at certain offences against children, but older people were just as vulnerable. "An assault on an older person is far more traumatic for that person than a similar assault on an able-bodied young man. The impact of even a minor assault on an older person can be devastating for that person, and can completely alter their way of life."
He said he was also concerned at the increasing number of reports of abuse of older people by their nursing home carers or family. It was very difficult to know how widespread elder abuse was because people tended to hide it, but the proposed law would act as a deterrent to anyone thinking of harming an older person in this way.
