Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

I might take the questions in reverse order if that is okay with Senator Costello. I have covered staffing levels. A task force report is due to come to us without delay.

In terms of individual complaints, measures are to be brought in whereby, in cases leading to death or serious injury, HIQA will be able to carry out investigations. That is something we very much want to expedite.

Fines were not a recommendation in HIQA's report or one it ever made to the Department of Health. However, I am very open to looking at the issue directly.

The programme for Government commits to increasing the number of public nursing home beds. That is something I feel very strongly about. This year, there are 615 new and refurbished nursing home beds. A capacity review is currently under way in the Department of Health on public nursing homes. I want to bring forward a proposal to expedite the roll-out of public nursing home beds. The regulations apply across the board in the exact same way whether the homes are public, private or voluntary.

Going back to Senator Costello's questions, 85% of HIQA's inspections are unannounced. To my knowledge, the inspectors do not have to make nursing homes aware of their arrival. They should have a right of entry. The rest of the inspections are announced.

She asked me if I am aware of any issues with other nursing homes. It was brought to my attention by the officials on Monday that there were notifiable incidents in two nursing homes, one of them involving An Garda Síochána. They are two very serious issues. We have followed up by getting the HSE’s safeguarding team involved. My officials will continue to engage with HIQA on the matter.