Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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226. To ask the Minister for Health to identify the legislation or statutory instrument that will provide the Health Information and Quality Authority with the power to investigate specific individual complaints; if the necessary provision has been commenced; the timeline for implementation of these powers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34874/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 contains provisions to give HIQA a discretionary power to carry out an independent review of a defined type of a serious patient safety incident, where some or all of the care of a patient was carried out in a nursing home. A minor technical amendment to the Patient Safety Act is required so that it can be commenced at the earliest possible date.

This provision will not replace the responsibility of nursing homes’ services to address concerns. However, it will support patients and their families when something goes seriously wrong with the care they received in a nursing home and will ensure that appropriate external processes are in place to review serious patient safety incidents.

My Department is actively working towards making this amendment to the Patient Safety Act so that the provision can be commenced at the earliest possible date. When commenced, this provision will further support HIQA in their important work to drive ongoing improvements for the many patients and families who rely on our health and social care services.