James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)

Is the problem not that the inspections regime in relation to the two nursing homes that were the subject of the “RTÉ Investigates” programme fundamentally and catastrophically failed, to such an extent that the actions Ms Fitzgerald witnessed in the TV programme were, as she just said, some of the worst things she had ever seen? Notwithstanding the regulatory regime we have in place, it catastrophically failed those residents who were subjected to abuse and this has called into question the entire inspection regime that HIQA operates and whether it is fit-for-purpose. Does Ms Fitzgerald accept that is the natural consequence of the “RTÉ Investigates” programme?