Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The question in people's minds is very simple. Why did all the organs of the State fail to protect these vulnerable older people? Why did it take a television programme to expose the scandal when these homes are supposed to be governed by the rule of law, bound by regulations and subject to inspection?

Relatives of victims at Leas Cross told of their concern at what they had seen on visits to this nursing home. The health board, and later the Health Service Executive inspectors, failed to protect these elderly people. The reason was summed up by one member of Leas Cross staff who was secretly filmed after an inspector's visit. She said that they were concerned by the paperwork. That is surely a damning indictment of the bureaucratic mindset.

We have long needed an independent inspectorate of nursing homes and we now need it urgently. The Government tells us we will have legislation to establish such an inspectorate later this year. When will the inspectorate be established? Will it be a year after that or two years? For some elderly victims of abuse in nursing homes it is too late. They have died of neglect, like the victims highlighted by recent television exposé. Vulnerable elderly people should not have to wait for the independent inspectorate to be established. The Minister for Health and Children should immediately appoint additional inspectors throughout the country and ensure that all nursing homes are inspected within the next two months. This should not be done by prior notification but by cold-calling, not once or twice but as many times as is necessary to satisfy everyone that we have the highest standards possible.

The many people who run nursing homes responsibly with the highest standards of care would welcome such a move, as the scandal of Leas Cross casts a shadow over all nursing homes. It is appropriate to commend all who manage and work in nursing homes where the required standards are met and maintained at all times. Great credit is due to those who give dedicated service to senior citizens and the most vulnerable in society. They must be acknowledged. We can be certain that Leas Cross is by no means an isolated case. I think the Minister of State accepts that. The great fear is that what we have witnessed is being replicated in other nursing homes. It is abhorrent that we spend millions of euro of public money which effectively pours into the pockets of the unscrupulous owners of these institutions. The HSE effectively abandoned people to the regime for which the owners of Leas Cross, the Ahernes, were responsible. What sanction will they now face? Will public money still be paid into their coffers? These are questions we need to have answered.

Nursing homes qualify for so-called tax incentives which the Minister for Finance is reviewing but which the Minister for Health and Children wants to extend to private hospitals. I have tabled a question to the Minister for Finance asking if Leas Cross benefited from this tax bonanza. Perhaps the Government could come back on this matter before the end of the debate. Would the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children note, as I put it to the Minister for Finance this afternoon, that Age Action advises that at least €500 million of public money has been ploughed into the private nursing home sector since the relief was introduced in 1997?

Sinn Féin tabled an amendment to the Disability Bill that would have stipulated that all disability specific services in the State be managed in accordance with Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. These articles deal with the right to privacy and family life and the prohibition on torture, inhuman and degrading treatment. The Government disallowed the amendment on the basis that to allow it would impose a charge on the State. That was just last week. I cannot believe that Government Deputies are proud of that now in light of Leas Cross. That kind of situation was what the amendment would have dealt with.

To prevent abuse or neglect we need a single, common high standard of care of the elderly in private, public and voluntary nursing homes and for those cared for in their own homes. I hope this scandal makes the Government pay heed to the Human Rights Commission established under the Good Friday Agreement. The commission highlighted the lack of protection for old people in nursing homes in its report of November 2002 but the Government did nothing.

A number of public bodies need to answer hard questions. On the Leas Cross website the owners boast that they are certified as service providers for the northern area health authority, the south western area health authority, the east coast area health authority and the VHI. Leas Cross carries a certificate from EQA, a quality assurance firm based in the north of England. Surely its integrity must be questioned by this scandal.

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