Reports of poor care and allegations of abuse at a number of nursing homes in Donegal, Cork and Kerry have been obtained by RTÉ News.
The reports, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, contain complaints made by families over the last three years about the level of care in both public and private homes.
The first complaint concerned Falcarragh Community Hospital, a Health Service Executive run public nursing home in Co Donegal.
A family complained that socks were put on their father’s hands and arms and then tied together. He was also put facing the wall.
Two nurses have admitted tying up the man.
An investigation by the HSE upheld the complaint and sanctions were imposed on the staff involved.
At the Hillcrest Nursing Home, a private home in Letterkenny, an elderly resident was found to have a broken shoulder two months after a fall at the home in 2006.
A complaint by the woman's family, which was upheld, said they had made repeated calls for medical assistance after their mother complained regularly of pain.
Following a HSE investigation, it found 'Hillcrest staff did not respond appropriately to repeated complaints of pain' by the family.
Out of 76 complaints against 34 private nursing homes in Cork and Kerry, 64 were upheld.
Staff education was recommended in a substantial number of the cases.
