Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

We must examine the issue of how nursing homes are defined. Difficulties arise for those involved in their management because they are currently classified neither as commercial properties nor as hospitals. I brought a case to the attention of the House some months ago of a nursing home in Carlow which had a substation for a telecommunications company located in its premises. The nursing home was in receipt of €50,000 over five years for facilitating the substation but no action could be taken against it because there was no formal definition as to whether the home was a commercial property or a hospital. The situation must be clarified because the patients in this instance were exposed to risks from the associated equipment.

Will the Leader agree to a debate on the function of regulators? We learn today that landing charges are set to increase and will be regulated by the aviation regulator. It seems regulators serve merely to sanction proposed price increases instead of querying and perhaps rejecting them as they should. This is especially the case in regard to the ESB given that the Commission for Energy Regulation has allowed prices to increase four times in recent months. This is not the purpose of a regulator.