Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

The inspectors will have powers to inspect on a frequent basis. Currently the rule is that each home should be inspected twice. I am not certain we should focus on the number of inspections per year. It may well be the case that some nursing homes require more frequent inspections than others and those which operate to a high standard may only require an inspection once every year or 18 months. It is important that the inspections are unannounced as it makes people more robust and thorough.

In addition, I will make provision for a whistleblower's facility in the new legislation. I hope that will encourage staff or family members of loved ones who are in nursing homes, or others, to bring matters to the attention of the authorities if they see something inappropriate happening.

I have visited hundreds of nursing homes in recent years, particularly in the past two years. To be fair, the vast majority of them operate to a high standard. I have gone to nursing homes where the level of stimulation and activities is fantastic and they are very happy places. However, I have gone to other places and wondered about them.

In fairness to the public sector, we will have a significant amount of work to do to adapt our public institutions to what I would call more appropriate modern conditions. As Members are aware, many of them are very old buildings that were former workhouses. Some of them have long wards where large numbers of patients are accommodated. In one case there was not even room for a wardrobe between the beds because space was so confined. That is not acceptable. We have made provision in the capital programme for funding to be supplied to the nursing home in question. As we provide funding to modernise some of these facilities this will probably result in a reduction in the number of beds to create more space. We have a long way to go but we are on the road, in particular to providing more resources, legislation and services for older people, in nursing homes and in the home and community.

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