Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I suppose the Government would say that, would it not? Everything the Taoiseach said is opinion. Among the matters the Ombudsman was investigating was the position regarding 300 cases that have been taken against the HSE and Department of Health and Children in respect of nursing home care. It is clear from the report that there is a major issue with regard to nursing home care, the complaints individuals and families have about the way in which they have been treated and what the Ombudsman described as inconsistency in the way in which the nursing home subvention has been provided over a period of time.

Clearly, what is happening here is an obstruction by Government of the Ombudsman's investigation. The Ombudsman nailed that by referring to what she describes as unprecedented opposition and frustration of her investigation by both the Health Service Executive and Department of Health and Children. This follows a pattern. It is not an isolated case of one investigation by the Ombudsman being frustrated by a Department. The Government has been systematically slaughtering the watchdogs whose purpose is to stand up for the rights of individual citizens. It dismantled the Freedom of Information Act, forced the resignation of the chief executive of the Equality Authority and abolished the Combat Poverty Agency.

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