Gardaí are reviewing 700 complaints relating to residential care homes for the disabled and nursing homes for the elderly.
The detail of a large volume of complaints made to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) have been released to Fine Gael TD Fergus O’Dowd in a series of freedom of information requests.
And because HIQA regulates the service provided by the centres but has no role in probing individual complaints, Mr O'Dowd wants them reviewed by the Garda.
In some of the complaints it is alleged a lack of care or the poor treatment of now deceased persons contributed to their deaths.
In other cases concern is expressed that disabled or elderly people were being physically, psychologically or sexually abused in HSE or privately run centres where they lived.
Mr O’Dowd said while the complaints are unsubstantiated and many were not a matter for the Garda, others were much more serious.
One complaint alleges nurses caring for two patients just before their deaths were psychiatric nurses.
A woman who contacted Hiqa believed her aunt had been sexually abused in a home.
Concern expressed that a woman who died having broken her leg in a fall hours earlier had called for help to no avail.
Some staff allegedly working at homes under fake identifications.
Death of one patient not registered until days after undertaker took remains away.
Male nurse had left his job when gardaí arrived on foot of sexual assault complaint relating to a paralysed stroke victim.
Concern expressed that lack of monitoring facilitated suspected sexual assault by dementia patient on another.
One complaint alleged the body of a man was moved after his death and the location of his death was given as “in bed” rather than collapsed on the floor of a toilet with no alarm call.
Mr O’Dowd said he has received details of all of the unsolicited complaints made to Hiqa by phone or in writing last year and to date in 2014. The complaints were made by those in the homes and others including relatives and visitors.
“The problem is that HIQA had no role in investigating these,” Mr O’Dowd said of the complaints.
He added complainants were required to take their cases to the proprietors of privately run homes or to the HSE when the facility at the centre of the complaint was not in private hands.
If dissatisfied, a complainant can also take a case to the Ombudsman, though Mr O’Dowd questioned how effective the process was.
“You even see in some of the complaints people express concern about what could happen, what the consequences might be, if it becomes known a complaint has been made,” Mr O’Dowd said.
He believed many older and vulnerable residents would be most fearful of repercussions and would “suffer in silence”. And others with dementia or disabilities would not have the wherewithal to complain.
He said these factors informed his decision to send the complaints to the Garda.
Mr O’Dowd forwarded the first tranche of complaints, from 2013, to the office of the then interim Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan at the end of last month. Complaints covering 2014 were sent last week.
The records have also been sent to Nursing Homes Ireland, the sector's representative body, and the Irish Medical Council.
The complaints must be reviewed by the Garda to determine if possible criminality arises before substantive investigations are begun.
