Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

There are many nursing homes that adhere to the highest standards, as has been stated earlier on. For some years, the social services inspectorate has stated that it should be put on a statutory basis. Health board checks on nursing homes have been carried out since the 1990 Act. There has been a legislative basis for these checks for the past 15 years. Deputy Kenny stated that two inspections are carried out every year. There are more inspections where health board officials have particular concerns about a home or where it is housed in an older building. It is better to examine matters like this in the round. It has been long announced that the social services inspectorate will be established as an independent agency on a statutory basis. We will examine the Health (Nursing Homes) Act 1990 and the regulations to see if they improve the situation and will seek to end the regrettable practice of informing nursing homes that they will be inspected.

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