Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I repeat what I said yesterday about the Leas Cross report, when I promised there would be a detailed account of the case that came up over a year ago. Professor Desmond O'Neill has identified many deficiencies in the standard of care for older people in Leas Cross and the actions required to uphold those standards. Those deficiencies in care are deeply upsetting to the families of those in Leas Cross, particularly the relatives of those who died in Leas Cross. The Government understands their distress and we will lead with the legislative action and funding decisions to ensure high standards of care are upheld in all nursing homes, public and private. We know from Professor O'Neill's report and others that complaints and warnings were not given the attention they warranted, a matter of deep regret.

Professor O'Neill examined these issues for a year but did not engage in a blame exercise and he did not recommend disciplinary action. I am not in a position to do what the person who spent a year examining it did not do. Some people involved have challenged his assessment, as is their right. The report has been sent to the Garda Síochána to enable it to take any action it considers appropriate and to the Irish Medical Council for its consideration. Our priority is to prevent this from happening again. That, rather than talking about what has happened, other than to express our regret and say they should not have happened, is what we are doing.

We established the Health Service Executive to introduce standards across services in every county and region. Those standards meet the highest international levels possible. We are finalising the health Bill 2006, which will be published in this session and will create a robust system of inspections. It will provide for the first time for a statutory office, the office of the chief inspector of social services within the HIQA organisation, with specific responsibility for the registration and inspection of all nursing home places, public and private, because they must all be examined. He or she will inspect the homes under the regulations governing them and the standards set by the authority. The Bill will also strengthen and modernise the registration and de-registration process. New standards for long-term residential care facilities for older people have already been prepared.

It is not the case that all nursing homes are staffed by people who could not care less about patients. That is an appalling picture to paint.

See this speech in context