Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy has again asked me to condemn unequivocally what we saw on the programme last night. No excuse can or should be offered for standing over facilities such as that. When one is independently inspecting something, it is bizarre to give warning by ringing ahead. If someone is knowingly or unintentionally acting in such a way in any home, not just Leas Cross, giving notice means what one is doing is not an inspection in a real sense. There should be independent inspections. The inspectorate will be independent of the HSE. Otherwise, the HSE would be referring patients and also examining facilities. The inspectorate must, therefore, be independent.

Specifically in connection with the Leas Cross nursing home, while 21 of the 96 patients were private patients, the home was not one of the newer homes to which people are referred. The HSE has been working for some time on a common national approach to the inspection of nursing homes, which is important. In this way, we have the same benchmark inspection everywhere and standards are crosschecked against acceptable standards.

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