Health:An ombudsman for older people will be established by the Progressive Democrats, Minister for Health Mary Harney has pledged.
She told her party's annual conference at the weekend that the office would have powers and a structure similar to the office of the Ombudsman for Children.
Ms Harney said that "older people deserve a strong advocate" and legislation would be introduced to give the advocate statutory backing and to provide a dedicated service of redress.
Ms Harney also promised legislation for licensing hospitals. "No hospital will open, or stay open, if standards are not met," she said.
Meanwhile, the health service needed to recognise the difference between a "traditional old-fashioned pay claim and a genuine willingness to reform" by nursing organisations, the conference was told by the general secretary of the Irish Nurses Organisation Liam Doran.
As the deadline for industrial action by nurses expires on Friday, Mr Doran said it would be "inexcusable if we continued to head towards confrontation without making a serious effort at engagement".
Mr Doran warned that nurses would not accept that progress on their issues was subject to the agreement of others.
"We are the ones who want to reform how we work, we are the ones who want to expand our roles and yet we are the health professionals who have the longest working week, the lowest pay, the highest vacancy rates and the greatest retention problems following qualification."
A guest speaker at the PD conference, he said that since 2001 nurses and midwives had adhered to procedures and the various social partnership agreements for addressing their issues.
Ms Harney said that in negotiations with consultants and nursing organisations, "I don't see any need for us to fall out over money".
She hoped that healthcare professionals and managers could engage in successful reforms. It had been done with the economy and could be done with the health service.
Ms Harney insisted the health reform agenda was working. She wished it could work faster but "it's the biggest reform process that's ever taken place in the country in the public or private sector". The pace of reform "has not matched the investment and that's the difficult piece that we're now overseeing".
