Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)

I thank the Minister of State. I would like an explanation for a whistleblower having, after two years of inaction on the part of the chief inspector and HIQA, to go to the media to highlight all of this. Surely that is a scandalous situation. They say you judge a society by how it treats its weakest. The weakest are the elderly and the very young - infant children. The Minister of State said the chief inspector will carry out a review. The chief inspector has failed in relation to three nursing homes, and possibly many more. My understanding is the chief inspector's position, legally, is supposed to be separate from the inspections carried out by HIQA operatives, yet HIQA staff must have their reports approved by the chief inspector.

HIQA does the report but it is filtered through the chief inspector despite the fact that there is supposed to be separation. Why does the chief inspector have to approve all of these reports? The problem is that this rests on one person. One person's determination or judgment will decide what will or will not happen. HIQA cannot issue the report without that approval.

When will unannounced inspections be carried out? They must be thorough and strict inspections. When will there be effective sanctions? What about deregistration and financial penalties? Are there financial penalties? I do not know. Perhaps the Minister of State can tell me whether there are penalties in law. When will this important legislation - the 2017 Bill on safeguarding the elderly - be enacted? It has been sitting there for eight years. We are all to blame for that but primarily the Government is to blame because it is a Government Bill. I would like to see it progressed. I understand that the officials have drafted the Bill but we have not seen it in the House. We need to do this urgently.

See this speech in context