Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)

This is all very welcome. It is good to see the witnesses. This is an important issue and I cannot understand why it is taking so long to understand. I am new to the Joint Committee on Health. It beggars belief that this issue keeps being kicked down the road. I feel the witnesses' frustration. At the end of the day, we all have to look after our elderly people. It is totally wrong that there is nothing in place.

Dr. Donnelly spoke about safe levels of staff. HIQA was here last week and that was one of the things I asked about. Is there any way we can push forward that a nursing home or other place has to have adequate staff? What I am hearing from inside nursing homes is that there is staff on duty, but there might only be one nurse for X number of patients and then only general operatives are working around the place. It should be mandatory that the number of staff is adequate for the patients they are looking after.

I think it was Ms Walker-Strong who talked about training. Could we not make it compulsory before anyone gets a job in a nursing home that the safeguarding training is rolled out? It could be a module that has to be done. In my line of business, no one can come to work for me unless they have a safe pass and have completed manual handling and confined spaces training. Could we not make it mandatory in nursing homes going forward that staff have to do a full day of induction and cover this course?

In Ardara, beside me in County Donegal, there is a sheltered home accommodation which is working brilliantly. A nurse comes in the morning, at dinner time and in the evening to make sure everything is all right. Up to 20 people live there and every one of them I have spoken to in recent times is more than happy. Mr. Taylor is right that we have to change the whole attitude of these big industrial homes and try to get people out into the local community. We could have six in Bruckless, Dunkineely and Killybegs. That is the way to go because they would be living in their communities. People who were in football clubs all their lives might have a problem now, but they still want to go to the football match on Sunday to see how their club is getting on. From the nursing home no one sees them. They are just sitting there wasting away. We have to rethink the whole thing going forward. Mr. Taylor is right that it has to be community based. We have to get our people out into the community.

Covid-19 was a big problem at home. My father went to visit many elderly people every day. He would just call in, but when Covid-19 came, that all stopped. For people in rural communities, if we could get our people into where they need to be living, among the community, it would be a far better way of looking after them than putting them into nursing homes.

Will the witnesses respond to those points please?