Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We often speak in the Dáil about homelessness and the horror of young people getting eviction notices, which is an horrendous worry on anyone's mind. Let us think for one minute about being aged 70, 80 or 90-plus, being in a nursing home and getting an eviction notice. This happened in August to 48 residents of a 68-bed nursing home in Belgooly in west Cork, which is run by a group called Aperee Living. Many patients in the nursing home were notified before their families were that they must be out within six months, which would be February 2024. In the past week, families have been told that HIQA is escalating the closure and intends to evict residents by 24 October. I have been helping families over the past few weeks to try to find an alternative nursing home. For the remaining 30 patients, this immediate eviction order is a step too far.

On Tuesday, 8 August, I appealed to the Minister of State with responsibility for nursing homes, Deputy Butler, to attend a public meeting on this matter but she was unable to do so. On Saturday, 12 August, as well as the Minister of State, I invited the Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath and Coveney, and the Tánaiste to a public protest, as many of the residents of the home are their constituents. They did not turn up. I again wrote to the Minister of State expressing the urgency of the matter and requesting her to meet the families and me as a local representative. Three or four weeks later, on 14 September, I received a detailed reply stating her support for HIQA's report, which showed many areas of non-compliance.

In the final line of her letter, the Minister of State noted that she understands how distressed the residents, their families and staff are but that her priority remains the health and well-being of the residents. Where is the health and well-being of patients being considered in this situation? The Minister of State refused to meet with anyone to discuss solutions that could have been brought forward. Where is the consideration for the health and well-being of patients on the part of the Department of Health, which has no back-up plan in cases of an emergency nursing home closure? Words of pity do not work here. How can the State stand idly by while elderly residents are thrown out of a nursing home in which some of them have resided for years? There are some married couples residing there. Surely the State has responsibilities in these areas and must step in and take over the running of nursing homes when they close, whether because of financial difficulties or HIQA issues. We cannot stand idly by and leave families heartbroken as their loved ones face eviction on 24 October. Eviction is what it is. We are turning our backs on the most vulnerable in our society.

The Taoiseach must act by launching an investigation into Aperee Living's running of this and other nursing homes to ensure patient care comes first. I wore myself out trying to communicate with Aperee Living regarding the Belgooly closure only to be met with an iron door in its refusal to engage. That is a statement in itself. The residents, families and staff of Aperee Living nursing home in Belgooly are on tenterhooks eight weeks later. If I contact Aperee Living, I am told the person there cannot talk and I should go to the HSE. If I ring the HSE, I am told to talk to HIQA. If I ring HIQA, the people there do not want to discuss the matter. The Department will kick the can in every direction. All of this is happening while the clock is ticking, with 30 residents facing eviction in a few weeks and with nowhere to go. Is the Taoiseach aware of this crisis in Belgooly nursing home and, if so, what is his solution for the residents? Will the HSE step in? This 68-bed nursing home, which was run brilliantly until Aperee Living came on board, is now facing closure within days. We need answers.

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