Any nursing home in the public or private sector which flouts regulations in future could face fines of up to €70,000 or imprisonment of up to two years, or both, if draft legislation published yesterday is enacted by the Oireachtas.
The Health Bill 2006, which Minister for Health Mary Harney hopes will be made law by Easter, provides for nursing homes in the public sector to be inspected for the first time, but it also gives increased powers to those who inspect all homes.
Inspectors will have the authority to inspect records, computerised or otherwise, and remove them from a home. They will also have powers to interview those living in the home, as well as its staff, in private.
And inspectors will have the authority to apply to the District Court to close a home, without giving notice of the application to the home, if they are concerned residents are at risk.
Furthermore the legislation, which is due to be debated in the Dáil in January, also gives powers to authorised officers to inspect and monitor standards in all healthcare setting across the State, including hospitals.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa), which is currently established on an interim basis, will be responsible for setting and enforcing standards for all affected institutions.
Within this body will be the Social Services Inspectorate, which currently inspects homes for children.
The legislation places it on a statutory footing and also gives it responsibility for inspecting nursing homes, as well as residential centres for people with disabilities.
Hiqa will also be charged under the legislation with assessing new medical devices, health screening programmes, and new drugs to determine if they should be used in the Irish healthcare systems. It will make recommendations on these to Ms Harney.
Dr Tracey Cooper, chief executive of the interim Hiqa, said while her organisation would have powers to close down nursing homes its remit was not "around closing acute services" such as hospitals.
She said she would have over 100 inspectors across the country who would be specially trained to do nursing home inspections. Some of these were likely to transfer to her organisation from the Health Service Executive.
Draft standards for nursing homes drawn up by the Department of Health would be finalised by Hiqa, with input from professionals and service users, she said.
Nursing homes will have to re-register every three years under the legislation. If inspectors are not satisfied a home meets all standards, Hiqa will refuse to re-register it and, without registration, a home will not be able to operate.
The Bill does not specify how often premises should be inspected. But they will have to be visited every three years before they can be re-registered.
Penalties under the legislation include a fine of €5,000 or imprisonment of up to 12 months or both on summary conviction and fines of up to €70,000 or imprisonment of up to two years or both for conviction on indictment.
Ms Harney said Hiqa will be the champion of the patient. "It will be the watchdog on behalf of the public," she said.
"This will be the organisation that will be responsible for ensuring that quality care is delivered . . . and I think that's going to have a major impact on improving the quality of the Irish healthcare system and inspiring patient and public confidence in the healthcare system."