The Tánaiste has told the Dáil he believes that staff filmed by undercover care workers as part of the RTÉ Investigates nursing homes exposé should be referred to An Garda Síochána for what he described as "physical assault".
Labour TD Marie Sherlock raised questions in the Dáil about the type of care that is desired for older people in this country.
She asked Simon Harris about safe staffing levels, which the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) does not currently set out.
Deputy Harris said he also believed there needed to be personal accountability, saying there are laws in relation to assault, and suggested that a referral be made to gardaí regarding what he described as "haunting scenes of people, in my view being physically assaulted in their home".
He said the people responsible for those actions should be investigated.
He also said that HIQA also had questions to answer, and welcomed that they would be meeting with the Minister for Health.
Deputy Sherlock said Labour felt that big business had used nursing home care to generate huge profits.
She said that the staff turnover in private nursing homes was 54% in 2022, even higher than in the childcare sector.
"Are you comfortable that the nursing home sector has become dominated by big business in Ireland?"
She said that 20% of smaller nursing homes closed between 2020 and 2022.
"The reality is that smaller nursing homes are effectively being crowded out," she added.
Mr Harris said: "I believe the State is too reliant on the private market when it comes to nursing home provision and that's why we established a Commission on Care".
He said that safeguarding legislation needed to be put in place, and that legislation would be brought before Cabinet next month.
