The Government was accused of not caring about elderly people in nursing homes during a debate on a Fine Gael private members' motion last night.
Fergus O'Dowd (Fine Gael, Louth) said: "This is a Government that changed the Freedom of Information Act. This is a Government that makes it more difficult to find out what is going on in our society. This is a Government which increased the charges for the Freedom of Information Act."
The vast majority of nursing homes were excellent institutions, he said. "But a significant minority of them, 33 last year, received adverse reports about absolutely appalling care in some instances."
Mr O'Dowd was speaking during the debate on the motion criticising the absence of a statutory-based inspection regime for all nursing homes and the introduction of uniform assessment criteria.
He said a man had died in a nursing home, and the report said he was in a "cold, darkened room", with nobody present and no facility for calling anybody should he need assistance.
"It took me four long years to get those facts because of the Freedom of Information Act, appeals and a lack of staff in the Information Commissioner's office."
Mr O'Dowd said he had first raised the issue in the Seanad in 2001 when he referred to a complaint he had received about a lady "freezing" in a nursing home. "Out I went with her husband, and I found the lady, fully clothed, in bed and freezing. The temperature there was 12 degrees. For elderly people, it should have been up to 21 degrees. The reality is that people die because they do not get adequate heat."
Yet, said Mr O'Dowd, despite highlighting this case, no change in the legislation governing nursing homes had been introduced by the Government. "The system continues to this day." The Government did not care about what happened, although they knew what was going on, he said.
Expressing concern about the findings of the Prime Time programme, Minister of State for Health Seán Power said the Department of Health was urgently reviewing the operation of the 1990 Nursing Homes Act and the Nursing Home Regulations 1993 to strengthen the powers available to the Health Service Executive.
"This will be a wide-ranging review which will have the rights of the patient as the centre of its work. It will update the nursing homes act and regulations so that any issues relating to employment law, training of staff etc are reflected in the new legislation."
It was his intention, he said, to have the Bill published this year so there could be an early debate on a new framework for all nursing home patients.
Defending the Government's record, Mr Power said that last year €9.5 million in additional funding was allocated to services for older people and this year the figure was being increased to €15.228 million. The funding would be used for a variety of services.
Labour spokesman on the elderly Seán Ryan said the delay in establishing an independent inspectorate for nursing homes, which had been promised time and again over the years, was a scandal that could not be allowed to continue.
"There are no statutory requirements for inspections of the State's 500 public nursing homes which care for over 10,000 people. Furthermore, there is not sufficient staff to regularly inspect all private nursing homes at least twice yearly, which is required under the Nursing Home Act 1990. This information is well documented within the Department of Health."
The House will vote on the motion tonight.
