Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

That is all blather which we have heard before. The legislation for an independent inspectorate was promised in 2001 but it has not materialised. The legislation is not strong enough to close a bad nursing home. I read the report. The Taoiseach will note, in particular, that deficiencies were noted in pressure sore prevention and care, assessment and management of swallow disorders, and in documenting the use and appropriateness of restraints, which were indicative of a failure to adequately understand and progress care for those vulnerable people. What the Taoiseach has told us does not deal with the urgency of this matter. This morning these people are sitting in circles in their day rooms, their bedrooms or their Buxton chairs watching reports of this debate. Some of these people may be suffering the kind of institutional abuse that has been mentioned in this document.

I listened to a HSE official this morning saying he would be disappointed if this happened again. No official should be disappointed. An official should be sacked if this happens again and it is on the Taoiseach's watch. Only 31 reports have been published out of 450 nursing homes. Some of the reports on the websites are useless. It is hard not to conclude that there is some kind of cover-up between the Government agencies and the HSE which failed to recognise the clear warnings about this long before the "Prime Time" report was made public, and Deputy O'Dowd exposed this matter.

Why would an inspector recommend that a nursing home be allowed to increase its number of residents while noting later in its own report that there are not enough staff to cater for the current number? That is the kind of report being made on these nursing homes. Why can we not show an effective Government response for these elderly, vulnerable and frail people? Why do we not set up an independent patient safety authority which would focus on the good and the needs of the patients, and not be clouded by cover-ups between the health system and the Department to the detriment of those people?

This recalls the old medical mantra "if it is not written down, it did not happen" but this did happen and this report is a damning indictment of how the Government handled it since long before the "Prime Time" report. Will the Taoiseach establish an independent patient safety authority now and not mess with people who did not report, and covered up, in the cases of those unfortunate persons who suffered and died in Leas Cross, and possibly other nursing homes around the country?

See this speech in context