Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

The Deputy and I have engaged intensively at the health committee. I will go through the points she raised. With regard to the licensing, there is absolutely a lacuna there at the moment. Within a group of companies, the licensing inspection is on individual nursing homes and who they are run by, but the parent company is not under HIQA's remit. I want that to be changed. There is an acceptance in that regard.

In respect of the inspection regime, HIQA does an inspection on the day. When it publishes its report, which might be a number of months later, it is based on that inspection. I want to see that report updated with the current position of the nursing homes and whether they have complied with any conditions required of them under the inspections. That makes common sense.

In the context of HIQA’s enforcement powers, it is correct to say that HIQA cannot issue fines directly. We have no issue in this regard. It is something HIQA recommends and we very much support.

When it comes to liability, these are all areas we are looking at. The key thing is that HIQA has acknowledged the need for change in terms of updating schedules. We will work with it on that.

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