I propose to take Questions Nos. 92, 166 and 243 together.
I wish to advise the Deputy that no instructions have been issued by my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, or by the Department in regard to restricting the release of information to public representatives on public and private nursing homes.
The Government is aware of the strong public interest in increasing the openness and transparency of the process of investigation of complaints by public bodies, particularly where the complaints concern the provision of care for older or vulnerable people. The Health Service Executive has now made a policy decision that with immediate effect the reports of all completed inspections of nursing homes should be made available to members of the public on request subject to legislation on freedom of information and data protection.
As the Deputy will no doubt be aware, access to certain records may be denied on the basis that disclosure of the information sought could involve the release of personal information on staff members or residents of the home. The Executive has decided that following a review and the standardisation of inspection report formats and consultation with key stakeholders, that it will publish all future reports on the its website subject of course to compliance with legislation in relation to the release of information.
In the circumstances, it is proposed to change the requirement whereby a person can only access information regarding nursing home inspections through the Freedom of Information Act 1997.