Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A public inquiry is the only thing that will give an answer to these families who deserve it. I think everyone accepts that. We need that timeline and then to look at mechanisms. The onus is on the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to go back to those families and give them that mechanism. We cannot continue as we are. If there are logistical reasons it cannot happen now, and I cannot see that it cannot, we need to give the families a timeline. That is fair. There are questions to be answered by the nursing home but also by the HSE, by HIQA and the RCSI Hospital Group. HIQA has put it on the record many times that it would accept its own weaknesses as a regulatory body and that it needs greater legislative powers.

We have had a number of reports on nursing homes and elder care, and they have all pointed out the weaknesses. It is not just that we have an insufficient amount of home care and that people are sometimes forced into nursing homes, we must examine the entire issue. In simple terms, we need a timeline and a mechanism and we must deal with the families.

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