There has been widespread angry reaction to last night's Prime Time Investigatesprogramme on conditions at Leas Cross nursing home in Swords, Co Dublin.
Age Action Ireland called on the Tánaiste to follow up "immediately" with her promise for a vigorous inspectorate. The group said any inspectorate should have the power to call without appointment, "day or night" to nursing homes.
Fine Gael has called for an independent national inspectorate to examine conditions in nursing homes around the State following last night's programme.
Fine Gael spokesman Fergus O'Dowd TD said the party, with Health Spokesman Dr Liam Twomey, would be using their Private Members' Time in the Dáil today and tomorrow to bring forward a motion calling for an inspectorate.
"A fully transparent structure for nursing home care must be set up. Fine Gael believes that an independent national inspectorate, separate from the country's health boards, is urgently required.
Labour party spokesperson on the elderly Mr Sean Ryan said it was now essential that the Government introduce legislation to provide for an independent inspectorate for all nursing homes in the state.
"The should be treated as the emergency it is, with the legislation being published and enacted prior to the summer recess," he said.
Green party leader Trevor Sargent said: "RTÉ's Prime Timeprogramme has done excellent work in uncovering the appalling way that some nursing homes are treating ill and extremely vulnerable elderly patients. The programme also highlighted the fact that the Health Service Executive is failing in its duty to monitor nursing homes adequately."
He called on the executive to act immediately and produce a report outlining the steps it has taken to ensure the safety and health of these patients.
The Irish Nurses Organisation condemned the practices highlighted in the programme as "disgraceful and indefensible" and said it feared that it would not be an isolated incident.
The Irish Association of Directors of Nursing and Midwifery called for an Ombudsman for Older Persons to be established.
Siptu's Dublin Health Services branch secretary, Mr Paul Bell, said the nursing home sector needs to be properly regulated if it is to provide appropriate care for clients and proper pay and conditions for employees in the sector.
The chairperson of the Irish Nursing Homes Organisation, Mr. Paul Costello, said the nursing home sector in Ireland was grossly underfunded and under-regulated and called on the Government to address the issue.
"Unfortunately there are some irresponsible nursing home operators in this country, but there are no proper sanctions to tackle them," he said.
The operators of the nursing home at the centre of the Prime Time Investigatesprogramme - Leas Cross, Swords, Co Dublin - yesterday lost a last-minute High Court bid to prevent the screening of last night's programme.
The programme, which was viewed in private by the judge, included footage secretly filmed inside the Leas Cross home by an RTÉ reporter, who is also a qualified care worker and who had worked for some weeks at the home as a care assistant.