Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is no problem. I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I welcome this Bill and its introduction of a three-year cap on the assessment of transferred assets to protect the viability of family farms and businesses. I also welcome the fact that a successor will be appointed to assets and that rigorous safeguards will be put in place to ensure this is done for the purposes of running a family farm or business. Section 5 sets out how the HSE will determine eligibility for the cap to apply. This only happens after someone has been in care for three years, which may put in doubt some of the certainty which is being looked for and which would allow people to plan ahead. Section 14 allows for a care representative to make decisions in the event of the incapacity of the person in care. However, it is important this is overseen appropriately and carefully to ensure there is no abuse of these powers.

We welcome the amendments the Minister of State brought forward in the Dáil, especially the ones that arose out of concerns some Members had with regard to dealing with second partners and issues around family successors. The Minister of State spoke about the provisions in the amendments that will allow the Minister to make regulations in the future and my colleague in the Dáil, Deputy Cullinane, outlined his concerns and the importance of giving us more detail on the type of regulations that can be brought in by the Minister in that regard. We accept these amendments are being tabled in good faith. However, on a more general point, when we are being asked to support amendments that will give powers to the Minister to make regulations, it is important that we are given a better and clearer sense of what those regulations might be.

I will take this opportunity to address the wider issue of nursing home neglect and deaths during the pandemic. Sinn Féin introduced a motion on this topic in the Dáil this week. It is a scandal that needs a full public inquiry. This is a crucial issue which has devastated many families. At the very beginning of the pandemic, fatal flaws were exposed in our health and social care services. We must take the necessary steps now to identify these problems and ensure they do not arise again. I commend the many nursing home staff who worked so hard under considerable pressure and stress during the pandemic to do their best to look after those in their care. However, it is clear the sector as a whole was unable to cope effectively due to chronic understaffing, weak governance arrangements, poor safeguarding provision and a lack of investment. Many nursing homes were unprepared for any infectious disease outbreak and, as we know, the consequences were devastating for the families who together have lost more than 2,000 relatives in these institutions alone.

One important change we feel is needed is that an independent safeguarding authority must be established within an appropriate State agency. Adult safeguarding legislation must also be expedited. Mandatory reporting of suspected neglect or abuse must be the norm across the sector and workers who come forward should be supported and protected. Accountability at an organisational level, with appropriate penalties including criminal sanctions, must be put in place where a failure to govern safely results in harm or death for residents. Along with a public inquiry, this is the only way to deliver truth and justice for relatives and friends of those who have died or who have been neglected by care homes during the pandemic.

Families and social workers need to be at the centre of this reform. Sinn Féin is committed to standing with families and supporting their calls for truth. Residents of nursing homes deserve to get the best possible care and to know they are safe. The mistakes of the pandemic must be learned from to ensure that they are not repeated. We must deliver a high-standard and fully public model of care for older people. The statutory home care scheme needs to be expedited. It was reported at the end of last year that the scheme had been pushed to 2022 because the IT system and a new assessment process had yet to be developed.Once again, IT systems are a problem. It is not a result of cybersecurity in this instance but of the fact, which we have seen throughout the pandemic, that our health system does not have a modern IT infrastructure. This impacts on the State's ability to respond to new systems, policies and processes when needs be.

Sinn Féin supports the Bill, insofar as it goes. The three-year cap on assessments of transferred assets to protect the viability of family farms and businesses is welcome. I commend the Minister of State on introducing the Bill.