3146. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the reasons an organisation sought access to undercover footage (details supplied); the costs incurred seeking permission to receive this footage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55000/26]

The issues highlighted by the RTÉ Investigates programme in 2025 were extremely serious and were treated as such by Government, the Department of Health, HIQA and the HSE.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), together with the Chief Inspector of Social Services, is the national independent regulator of all designated centres for older people in Ireland, including public community nursing units and private nursing homes.

The role of HIQA is to ensure that the systems, structures, and processes that have been put in place by a nursing home provider mitigate risk, and to work to promote safe and effective care and support for residents in residential care.

On foot of a request from HIQA to obtain access to additional footage from the RTÉ Investigates Programme as part of its regulatory oversight, the High Court, on the 6th of July 2026 ordered RTÉ to provide HIQA with access to the footage relating to Beneavin Manor and The Residence Portlaoise.

As HIQA is an independent statutory body, any queries concerning its decision to request access to the footage are a matter for HIQA and are therefore best directed to its Board.