Minister Kathleen Lynch says sending undercover investigators into care homes may be on the cards.
It follows last night's Prime Time programme on RTE which showed footage of residents with intellectual disabilities being abused at Aras Attracta in Swinford, County Mayo.
It found that three women in the centre were slapped, kicked, threatened, denied access to a toilet, and force fed.
Professor Owen Barr - Head of Nursing at the University of Ulster
