The disclosure that the Health Service Executive (HSE) has stopped referring patients to five nursing homes in Dublin and Wicklow is an indication of the crisis the State now faces in relation to care of the elderly, the Labour Party has said.
Labour's health spokeswoman Liz McManus said it was also a "clear indictment of the failure of the government to ensure basic acceptable standards and particularly of its failure to deliver "long-promised legislation".
"While it is clearly a good thing that the HSE is at last taking action in regard to homes that fail to meet basic requirements, there is an obligation on the Executive to now identify the homes in question," she said.
"This is essential for two reasons. Firstly residents of homes that have failed to meet the basic standards are entitled to know, so that they and their families can consider possible alternatives. Secondly, residents in other homes that are complying with all requirements are entitled to reassurance that their home is not among the ones now under sanction by the HSE."
Ms McManus said there was also an obligation on the HSE to say what steps are being taken to ensure the welfare of residents in these five homes.
"Following the shocking disclosures about Leas Cross last year, the HSE sent a nursing team under is control into the home to assess the situation and ensure that residents got proper care. The HSE should now consider a similar approach in regard to these homes."
Ms McManus said the Dáil Committee on Health and Children at her proposal, agreed to request the attendance of Dr Aidan Browne, the National Director of Primary, Community and Continuing Care of the HSE, along with other senior officials, to outline what steps are being taken to ensure the welfare of the residents of all nursing homes.
The Green Party's health spokesman John Gormley claimed many nursing homes were "cutting corners" in order to increase profits.
He said there must be greater level of transparency and accountability and that inspections should be "robust and fully independent".
"The Taoiseach yesterday attempted to downplay the serious problems in nursing homes. But the reality is that many TDs continue to hear horror stories about the state of our nursing homes," he said.
"Nursing homes have now become a business for people who would not normally be in the caring professions. Their aim is to make a profit and they are quite prepared to cut corners in order to do so. This is, of course, in keeping with the Fianna Fail/PD philosophy that greed is good. They have engendered a profit-before-people philosophy and we're now witnessing the terrible consequences. Patient care and safety must always come first.
"Some nursing homes have been guilty of serious of the elderly, yet the Government does not appear to have grasped the gravity of the situation," he said.