As the country's elderly population grows, it is critical to have a nursing home sector in which people have confidence and where the highest standards apply and are seen to apply. It is the responsibility of Government to ensure the law and the inspectorate regime in place are also of the highest standard to ensure that this happens. The Leas Cross affair, as exposed by Deputy O'Dowd and the "Prime Time" programme on RTE, has severely dented people's confidence in the Government's ability to ensure the highest standards in our nursing homes.

Yesterday the Taoiseach confirmed that a critical report on Leas Cross was submitted to the health authorities last autumn. He said it was very critical and raised serious issues. I have four questions for the Taoiseach in that regard. Why was so little done about the appalling level of care provided in Leas Cross until the "Prime Time" programme forced the Government to act? Second, why did the Taoiseach, on 1 June this year, tell the Dáil that the inspection regime was not the problem in Leas Cross when this report apparently flagged the fact, eight to ten months ago, that a serious situation had arisen there?

Third, why was Leas Cross management given advance warnings of inspections even though the authorities had such a critical report in their possession? The authorities were aware of the seriousness of the situation yet they continued to inform Leas Cross of when inspections would take place. Fourth, why has the Government failed to act on a solemn promise the Taoiseach gave four years ago to initiate a new inspectorate for nursing homes? The sad fact is that inspections took place but these were notified and were inadequate. The Government failed to act and has severely dented the confidence of elderly people and the public in this matter.

First, I wish to acknowledge the upset of the family of the late Peter McKenna, whose death prompted the issues we discussed here yesterday. His brother and sister have spoken movingly about his final days. Any family would rightly be upset, as would I and any Member of the House. I did not acknowledge that fact yesterday. Clearly, the delay in finalising the report about his death and the delay in acting on it is not satisfactory for me or the Tánaiste. It demonstrates again that the system previously in place did not meet the needs of vulnerable patients. I accept there are 20,000 people in both private and public nursing homes but the point is that there must be standards that are adequate in every case. It is not a system people can stand over.

As the Tánaiste said yesterday, we will publish this report after it has gone through the necessary due process. It must go through this process to take account of the legal consideration that people mentioned in the report have a right to see the report. The Government is bringing forward the social services health inspectorate legislation which will deal with these issues.

With regard to whether these reports were brought to Government, I do not have blow by blow details. When there is a report by a health board or the Health Service Executive about a case, people think that every such report and examination is brought to the Government. It is not. As I understand it, in this case complaints were made or concerns were expressed — I do not know how it happened — in August 2003. The health board that was responsible for Leas Cross at the time initiated an examination in autumn 2003. Somewhere along it way it moved from being an examination of the Peter McKenna case to an examination of the inspectorate of the health board. I have never seen the report but I understand it is mainly about the Peter McKenna case but also discusses some issues regarding the health board.

I am subject to correction but my information is that from autumn 2003 to the first week of this month, which was after I answered questions in the House, that report was not completed. It was completed subsequent to me speaking in the House on 1 June. I believe it was finalised around 8 June.

With regard to standards for the future, the objective is to try to achieve proper standards for everybody. There are 20,000 people involved and, hopefully, the vast majority of them are extremely happy but in cases where it is otherwise, the social services inspectorate legislation will deal with it. We have invested enormous resources and staff to ensure these matters are dealt with properly. We will continue to do that to ensure we have the best standards in the future.

The problem is that people view the Government as not taking any action on foot of the information it is given. There were five complaints about Leas Cross since December 2003 but nothing was done. The Minister of State, Deputy Callely, was informed of a serious case, in a different nursing home, where the consultant described the bedsores as the worst he had ever seen. The Taoiseach said on 1 June that the strongest inspectorate, because it is a dedicated unit, is in the former Northern Area Health Board where Leas Cross is located. If that is the strongest inspectorate, and given the consequences of that kind of inspection, notified or not, is the Taoiseach satisfied the inspectorate regime for other nursing homes throughout the country is sufficiently clear for action to be taken? When the consultant submitted his report did the Tánaiste, in her capacity as Minister for Health and Children, call in the official who received that report, in respect of which no action was taken? Irrespective of whether it was a draft or final report but given the explosive nature of its content, why was no action taken between receipt of the report and the broadcast of "Prime Time", when all hell broke loose?

When does the Taoiseach expect the report to be published or is it being held up by management in the Leas Cross nursing home? This is of considerable interest not just to the relatives of the patients involved but to the entire population. It no longer has any confidence in the Government because there is no leadership and nobody on the Government side seems to care about what is happening.

It is time for the Taoiseach to move over.

The Deputy has asked several questions which I will try to answer quickly. The parties to the report have until 6 July to give their views. They include the family, the doctors and the members of the board in this case. I have already given the facts about the report.

I should have said that, as I understand the matter, the Department of Health and Children wrote to the then Eastern Health Board at an early stage. I dated the sequence of events from autumn 2003 but the case arose far earlier. In autumn 2000 the man died and the Department of Health and Children wrote to the then Eastern Regional Health Authority in autumn 2001, following the first representation about the case, but finalisation of the report was impeded due to lack of access to the medical records because the deceased was a ward of court. The High Court approval for access did not come through until August 2003. That is what happened in the intervening years. The process did not start until 2003 for those reasons.

The Deputy asked whether we can be satisfied the process was good enough, given that Leas Cross was in the former Northern Area Health Board which was considered to be the best area. Of course we are not satisfied. I have acknowledged that before. This was not good enough, although the Northern Area Health Board considered its inspectorate standards were of a high order. We cannot consider it was good enough. The Tánaiste expects that Professor Drumm, and the new legislation which she will present to the House on the social services inspectorate, will ensure we reach the highest standards.

The Tánaiste has brought the question of why no action was taken to the highest level in the then health board. The report begun in August 2003 was not to my knowledge or that of anyone else brought to the Government's attention. I am not playing the blame game but the report was not brought to our attention. Only when it was suggested in the House that I look at the McKenna case did I become aware there was any report. That report was not completed until 8 June. The Government did not know about any report and could not have known about it as there was none until after the television programme was broadcast. Those are the facts.

That is a very poor excuse.

The Minister of State, Deputy Callely did not tell anyone about it. He kept it a secret.