Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 June 2025
905. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of compliance notices issued by the Health Information and Quality Authority relating to nursing homes, for each nursing home, for each year 2015-2025, in tabular form. [34401/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Chief Inspector of Social Care and the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA) is the national independent regulator of designed centres for older people including public community nursing units and private nursing homes.
Department of Health officials directed this query to HIQA who have advised the following:
“On 14 February 2025 the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Act 2024 was commenced.
Section 16 of this Act sets out the legislative framework whereby the Chief Inspector can issue a compliance notice to a registered provider of a designated centre, which includes nursing homes, if they are not in compliance with the relevant regulations (and some other legal obligations). A Compliance Notice must tell a provider in clear terms what provision they have failed to comply with and what they must do to fix it - either to do certain things or to stop doing certain things, by a specified date. It is legally binding, meaning the provider must follow it.
Compliance Notices are new (they came in on 14 February 2025) and are considered to be a middle-ground enforcement tool – more formal than a Warning Letter or a Provider Assurance Request (PAR), but less serious than using our powers under Section 51 or 59 of the Health Act 2007, as amended. This tool is useful in situations where it is very clear what is required to be done and where we can define a timeframe such as:
• Ensure all staff undergo updated safeguarding training, for example”.
