John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for bringing this important motion before the House. I acknowledge the Tánaiste's point with regard to the payment of outstanding charges. It is good to know the legislation will be introduced this session because many people are anxious as part payment has not been made and they want to know the reason for the delay. Given that €2,000 was offered by the Department to those listed on its register, it is unfortunate that some payments were not made in this regard.

Many beds in Sligo are empty as a result of subvention. Apparently, while the cost of a bed might be €800, some families in the west pay €300 to €400 in addition to the pension and subvention whereas a similar bed in Dublin would only cost €200. There is no parity and the Minister might check this because the cost of running a nursing home is the same in the west as on the east coast. It is hard to explain the discrepancy.

With regard to the MRSA bug, I am surprised that while the public health inspectorate is allowed into hospitals, it is not allowed into public wards or nursing homes to carry out unannounced checks. That may be dealt with by the new inspectorate but, in the short term, unannounced checks would be welcome.

The Government has ignored the inspection regime for too long. Without the promised inspectorate, more horror stories about conditions in nursing homes are in store. We all remember how quickly the Government was able to introduce legislation to make legal the practice of charging elderly patients in nursing homes. This is in stark contrast to its failure, despite numerous promises, to bring forward legislation for a statutory, independent inspection regime for all nursing homes, be they public, private or community based.

Given the level of inspection of supermarkets, hotels and every other public facility, such as schools——

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