An investigation into the running of the Leas Cross nursing home has received 25 submissions from relatives of former residents at the home.
The commission of investigation into Leas Cross has already met a number of relatives to discuss concerns raised in their submissions.
The nursing home, near Swords, Co Dublin, closed in August 2005 following an undercover RTÉ television Prime Time Investigatesprogramme, which raised concerns over the treatment of residents.
The home was subsequently sold and has since reopened under new management and with a new name.
Last April, Minister for Health Mary Harney commissioned an investigation into the management, operation and supervision of the home. Barrister Diarmuid O'Donovan is the sole member of the commission.
His terms of reference include examining the role and responses of the HSE and other bodies in relation to the operation of Leas Cross. He is looking at the response of the HSE and other bodies to complaints made by residents, former residents or their relatives. The HSE's role in transferring residents from medical and residential care facilities to the nursing home is also being examined.
The commission has made contact with a number of statutory and regulatory bodies and other relevant parties.
A spokeswoman for the commission said more submissions were expected in the coming weeks. However, specific details of the submissions could not be released because of the sensitive nature of the information.
The interim report of the commission is due for publication in mid-March and the final report is due in September. This will be the second major report into Leas Cross since the Prime Time Investigates programme. After the home closed, the HSE commissioned consultant geriatrician Prof Des O'Neill to conduct a review into deaths at the home and the care regime.
He said the Leas Cross findings were "consistent with institutional abuse". He found staffing levels at the home to be deficient and found flaws in the regulatory process. He also criticised those in management for not taking complaints seriously.
Prof O'Neill's report was dogged with controversy before it was published. It was completed in May 2006 but not published until that November because the HSE said it presented legal difficulties, as parties referred to were not given an opportunity to respond.
It later accepted that Prof O'Neill's terms of reference were not broad enough and it sought submissions from people clearly identified in the report before publishing it.
Concerns about Leas Cross and other nursing homes led to the preparation of new standards for public and private nursing homes, which will soon be launched. The Health Information Quality Authority is expected to publish these standards in the coming weeks.
They set out the rights of residents and refer to their entitlement to protection, high-quality, safe and respectful care. The new regime will make it easier for health authorities to clamp down on nursing homes that fail to provide a satisfactory standard of care.
Up to 200 independent inspectors will be recruited to enforce the care standards. It is expected that, by mid-2008, the inspection and registration of nursing homes will be undertaken by the office of the chief inspectorate.
