Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 16 September 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Covid-19: Final Report of Nursing Homes Expert Panel

Photo of Róisín ShortallRóisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the members of the expert panel and congratulate them on the panel's report. It is an excellent and comprehensive report which sets out a substantial number of recommendations, identifies the lead agency, which is very important, and suggests a timeframe.

There is no doubt that we need to substantially change the policy on elder care and move towards a new model of care. Deputies regularly deal with this issue. Approximately 6,000 people who have been approved for home care have not received it due to a lack of funding. Many of these people end up in acute hospitals or nursing homes where they do not need or want to be but that is the area for which funding is available. For this reason, I fully support the recommendations on changing the model of care.

It is very important that housing agencies are heavily involved in developing that new model of care. We have a small number of examples, which are very good, of local authorities providing sheltered housing. That could be developed much more widely. The ideal scenario is to have people stay in their own homes with support, although sometimes that is not appropriate. Local authorities have a very important role to play in providing sheltered housing that caters for a range of dependencies, from practically independent to more dependent, with the necessary supports. That requires different agencies to work together, which sounds easy but is often the main stumbling block. It is very important that this happen.

Members are not able to be present for the full meetings so I ask the witnesses to forgive me if this matter has been raised already. On the 88 recommendations, it is often said in this country that we produce many good reports but that we suffer from implementation deficit disorder. There is no doubt about that. The challenge for this committee and for us as public representatives is to ensure that does not happen with this important report. Can our expert panel give us its view at this stage on the response to its report and recommendations? Do the witnesses believe it has been adequate? I have a concern that the committee charged with implementing the recommendations is chaired by the Department of Health. That is an issue. Is the expert panel satisfied with the arrangements that have been put in place to date for the implementation of the recommendations in its report?

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