Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

On the Deputy's first point, this year alone, as well as the large increases in pensions and the electricity allowances I mentioned yesterday, we have provided a large additional allocation of €150 million for services for older people. We have provided home care packages, primary and community care for older people, extended the entitlement to medical cards and put in place a range of other services.

When the problems in Leas Cross nursing home were highlighted, the Government closed it, which was the best action to take, given that we were not satisfied with the standard of care of older people there. We moved all its residents to decent accommodation with acceptable standards. The Health (Hospitals Inspectorate) Bill 2006 will put the social services inspectorate on a statutory footing, as I have said previously. The Bill will also contain provisions to underpin a more robust inspectoral system. A working group was established by the Department of Health and Children when the issue arose, to prepare standards for long-term residential care settings for older people and the draft standards will be circulated to everybody in the consultation process. The HSE working group produced a report on nursing home inspections and registrations in July, and that currently underpins the process.

The HSE also proposes to employ 32 elder abuse officers and the recruitment process is at an advanced stage. The report of the working group on nursing home inspections and registrations is being implemented. Resources were identified for nursing home inspection teams and a training programme for those teams was developed. The HSE has embarked on a process of standardising inspection reports, involving doctors, nurses, environmental health officers and others.

It is not true that the Government did not act. An entirely new process, involving legislation, staff and the full implementation of the 1993 Act, has been undertaken. I have read the report of the Department of Health and Children on the issue, during bilateral Estimate discussions, and that of the HSE so it is not true to say we have not taken action. The only issue arising from the report was that not all of the teams around the country were able to work together. There were some separate teams.

Standards inspections are now unannounced. A criticism was made in the past that the managers of homes knew when environmental health officers, doctors and nurses were about to visit and would make improvements for that day only, but that will not happen any more.

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