The chief executive of the Irish Nursing Homes Organisation (INHO) has called on the Government to replace existing legislation governing nursing homes in Ireland, which he describes as "totally inadequate and outdated."
Mr Tadhg Daly said the Government had not yet delivered on its promise to introduce legislation to replace the 1990 Nursing Homes Act.
Mr Daly was speaking at the launch this morning in Dublin of an INHO policy document on the minimum standards of care the body, which represents the private nursing home sector.
The policy document calls for an increase in staffing numbers and the introduction of garda vetting of nursing home employees.
Mr Daly said all nursing homes, public and private, should be inspected under new legislation. "The introduction of minimum standards, and having a single regulatory agency responsible for their enforcement, is critical to bringing about radical and meaningful change, and restoring public confidence in the sector," he said.
Mr Daly also called for the introduction of a subvention to fund the full cost of case for nursing home residents who have no means to pay.
He described the current subvention of €190 per week as "completely inadequate to deliver proper care."
Figures released last year show that subvention rates for older people who cannot afford the full cost of private nursing home care vary dramatically in different health authority areas.
Mr Daly said this was "an example of geographical discrimination on funding and the lack of uniform standards, the abolition of which was one of the aims surrounding the establishment of the HSE."
