The relatives of people who died at Leas Cross nursing home in north Dublin have formed an action group to campaign for fundamental reform of the nursing home sector.
The group, in its first statement issued yesterday, said it also wants individuals held accountable for what happened at Leas Cross.
"The group recognises that no future actions will undo the damage done by the premature deaths of their loved ones.
"However, they wish to take all necessary steps in assisting the authorities and our society in ensuring that a tragedy on this scale does not happen again," it said.
"Specifically, the group wishes to ensure fundamental reform in the regulation and performance of the nursing home sector and a cultural change that ensures full accountability by individuals for decisions and actions taken.
"It is the group's opinion that accountability should start immediately and deal with the recent conduct of executives and officials in both the public and private sector," it added.
The group welcomed the fact that the report from Prof Des O'Neill, which reviewed 105 deaths at Leas Cross or immediately after transfer to hospital from the home, had been passed to the Garda after its publication last week.
It will fully co-operate with a Garda inquiry and said it hopes the Health Service Executive, which it describes as having a hostile attitude to the families, will do likewise.
In addition, it says the executive should set up "an independent confidential system" for staff to make disclosures in relation to what happened at Leas Cross.
Meanwhile, a three-person team commissioned by the HSE to investigate 13 complaints made by families about the care their relatives received at Leas Cross has now completed its work.
Dr Dermot Power, a consultant geriatrician at the Mater hospital, who led the team, said yesterday individual responses had been sent to each of the families who made complaints.
He said he had also made a number of recommendations to the HSE on foot of his findings in the individual cases.
Aidan Browne, director of primary, community and continuing care with the executive, confirmed the team identified issues and made recommendations.
"And it's just exactly what's in the Des O'Neill report . . . the recommendations are exactly the same," he told The Irish Times.
A HSE working group set up to review the nursing-home inspection process following revelations on Prime Time last year about what was happening in Leas Cross recommended in its report that people in the executive contracting beds from private nursing homes should check to ensure no concerns had been raised about the homes in inspection reports.
"In some cases there may not be a history of consultation or communication between inspection teams and these individuals and agencies," their report, which was completed last July, said.
The report also said there were few dedicated nursing home inspection teams in place.
It recommended all inspections should be unannounced and that out-of-hours inspections should be increased.
Mr Browne said these actions were being implemented.
"We are now satisfied that any bed that we are contracting won't be contracted unless we are satisfied that the nursing home inspection report supports that," Mr Browne said.