Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

As others have mentioned, the "RTÉ Investigates" programme highlighted the scandalous lack of proper care standards in two nursing homes. However, if people think such incidents in the modern age are confined to The Residence Portlaoise and Beneavin Manor in Glasnevin, they have another thing coming. We have all heard stories and, obviously, if they are not in the public domain, we cannot recount them. However, in this context I believe that HIQA, all related agencies and the system in general have failed families for too long.

To be constructive, I welcome the fact the Department of Health, in collaboration with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, is finalising an adult safeguarding policy for the health and social care sector, hopefully before the summer recess. This will provide a framework for strengthening adult safeguarding structures, processes and supports.

The introduction of safeguarding legislation, if it is done properly, will set out some form of adequate safeguarding. Once the legislation is enacted, though, how will it be enforced? What additional actions will take place in terms of funding so that residents' needs are matched with profit maximisation in an increasingly corporate sector? We have heard references during this debate to the rise of investment funds. More than half of all nursing home needs in Ireland in 1990 were public but by 2023, only 16% of them were. The Geary Institute for Public Policy at UCD has highlighted that just ten investment funds now own one third of the nursing home beds in the State. This is a massive change, even from seven or eight years ago, when investment funds were essentially non-existent in the system. Ireland and the UK now have officially the most privatised sectors in Europe. Does this serve the residents, the families and, equally, the Irish taxpayer? With such private, profit-driven ownership now, the onus is on the State to provide a robust system of compliance. The ball is in the Government's court and it is not just about the legislation. It is about ensuring it can be adequately enforced.

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