The information is contained in an investigation by the Health Services Executive conducted in 2005, but which only entered the public domain in the last week.

An initial inspection of Leas Cross nursing home on 28 April 1998, carried out by the then Eastern Health Board, listed 14 reasons why registration was not recommended.

These included an engineer's report which "indicated that the size of a number of double rooms was below the required standard and that it should only accommodate 22 residents". The engineer's report said nine out of the 11 double rooms were below the recommended size and "considered unsuitable for two beds".

In order to establish a nursing home, the local health board must assess the home to ensure it meets requirements set out in the Nursing Homes Act, 1990.

The initial inspection found Leas Cross contravened some requirements.

A further inspection less than a month later, led by a different inspector, recommended registration for 31 residents without any conditions attached to registration.

Martin Hynes, who carried out the review of the Nursing Homes Inspection Process for the HSE, concluded: "In simple terms, it should not have been registered in the manner in which it was, or indeed registered at all." Hynes' report also highlights how no application "appears to have been made for a declaration as a 'suitable person' and no checks were carried out". This is a breach of Section 4a of the Nursing Homes Act, 1990.

Hynes writes in his report: "The exact circumstances of the initial registration are not clear. A refusal to recommend registration was overturned in less than one month, apparently without consultation with the engineer or the coordinator of services for the elderly who had both identified serious shortcomings in the physical infrastructure of this home."

Hynes' report also details that between the initial registration on the 20 April 1998 and 21 April 1999, Leas Cross was inspected 10 times and "on several occasions the inspectors found problems in the home. Some of them were serious." For example: "An application for the approval of seven extra beds was recommended on the same day on which inspectors found that they had been misled, in writing, by the owner after a previous inspection which had identified a shortfall in staffing numbers."

The Leas Cross residents support group, which launched a campaign last Monday, is seeking clarification from the HSE as to why Leas Cross was registered in the first place. The group wants people to be held to account for the abuse which took place in Leas Cross and is seeking information on the particular circumstances of their relatives' deaths. The HSE was unavailable for comment this weekend.