Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

This House owes a debt of gratitude not only to the "Prime Time" programme but also to the High Court judge who refused an injunction to the owners of the nursing home involved. His decision did the country a great service. There has been significant media coverage of this issue in recent days but had the injunction been granted we would probably not be discussing it today.

This House should co-operate fully if legislation to deal with this problem is expedited to pass before the summer recess. It is important that this happen because it is a shocking indictment of the system that the health board inspectors visited only 78 of the 430 private nursing homes last year. There are also 500 State-run hospitals. It is imperative to set up an independent inspectorate.

While I accept that the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Seán Power, is a sincere person, it is a bit rich for him to say that the inspection procedures were ridiculous. As Senator Brian Hayes said, the documentation reveals this situation was identified as ridiculous over many years. I hope this House will accelerate whatever legislation and action are required to deal with this issue which is a matter of concern to many people. We all empathise with the difficulties the people involved are experiencing.

It may be desirable to offer tax incentives to encourage the development of private nursing homes but is the mercenary impulse driving out the social and caring dimension in them? That may be a corollary to tax incentives. We need to be careful and watch for this trend.