Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The Leas Cross exposure was not simply important. It was a national scandal that brought shame on this country, in which the elderly, the sick and the frail were exposed to degrading and horrific treatment. I am informed by my colleague, Deputy O'Dowd, who has been pursuing this for a number of years through the Freedom of Information Act, that there are serious questions about the adequacy of the existing inspectorate regime within the Health Service Executive. I understand that an independent review of Leas Cross, which was completed in June 2005, found, in simple terms, that it should not have been registered in the manner it was or, indeed, registered at all. The report found that nine of the 11 double bedrooms in Lea's Cross were below the required standard. That means half the rooms originally used were below the required size.

To make matters worse, in August 2004, nine months before the "Prime Time Investigates" programme, the health authorities were given specific warnings about serious inadequacies in the inspection regime and were alerted to the type of activities the nation saw on that television programme. I believe worse was seen by those who inspected that facility. We can only speculate on how much suffering the elderly in that place had to endure. The novelist Mr. Anthony Powell said that "Growing old is like being increasingly penalised for a crime you haven't committed" and unfortunately, in some cases in this country, that appears to be true.

The Government has had massive resources at its disposal but has wasted obscene amounts of money in many areas. It has failed to draft legislation for an independent inspectorate. The Taoiseach opened this nursing home but he did not want those kinds of standards to pertain — I know he did not. It is his responsibility to ensure his Government introduces legislation to guarantee that standards are monitored and best practice prevails. When does the Taoiseach propose to introduce such legislation and when will the O'Neill inquiry, which is investigating 97 deaths at Leas Cross, be finalised and its report published?

This is not simply an ordinary legislative matter, it concerns the quality of life of those who built this country. In their last years, such people deserve comfort, high standards and the knowledge that the State takes an interest in their welfare.

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