Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Writing in The Irish Timesthis week, Tadhg Daly, the chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, NHI, stated his clear view that nursing homes face an existential threat and a crisis that is putting the viability of the entire sector at risk. We know from data collected by NHI that in the past three years, an astonishing 31 private and voluntary nursing homes have closed. This equates to a loss of 915 beds in the sector. In 2022 alone, 18 nursing homes closed and just four new homes opened. Unfortunately, that trend is not slowing down. This situation is not helped by the fact that as a recent comparative analysis has shown, the price per week of a HSE-run nursing home in County Offaly was €1,959, while private nursing home fees were over €900 less, at €1,009. With respect to County Laois, the situation is even more striking. HSE nursing homes there are charging an average of €2,585 in comparison with €1,039 for privately run facilities. The clear demographic trajectory here adds an important context to this debate.

The number of people aged 85 and over increased by 25% between 2016 and 2022. In the next 20 years, this demographic is forecast to double and will be most dependent on the person-centred, round-the-clock care provided by nursing homes. Imagine the astonishment when providers woke to the news at the start of this month that the Government intends to lift the ban on private nursing homes becoming refugee centres. I appreciate, as Philip Ryan noted in the Irish Independent, that operators will first have to provide HIQA with six months' notice of their decision to close and undergo an 18 month cooling-off period to give residents and staff time to make alternative arrangements. Unfortunately, however, when these issues are combined - the threat to the sector and the slew of closures - it becomes absolutely clear that there will be nowhere for our vulnerable elderly people to go. The Taoiseach has said that our older people will not be left in the lurch but what is he basing that on? Is he aware of massive levels of additional capacity that exist in the system? I would like him to tell me where that capacity can be found. Many of our loved ones and perhaps some of us here today may come to need the expert care of the nursing home sector. However, when the viability and the future of the sector is under the kind of pressure it is under today, it may be a need that will go unmet, with all the personal and health consequences that brings.

Nursing Homes Ireland is calling for immediate action to be taken to stem the tide of closures. Will the Taoiseach provide me with his plan on how that can be achieved, especially in the context of the policy change that allows for former nursing homes to be completely taken out of the system and repurposed as refugee accommodation centres?

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