Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I hope the Minister of State will be able to shed some light on what is happening with Lucan Lodge Nursing Home. There is a lot of uncertainty about its future. The 73 residents and 85 staff have been told recently that the nursing home might close down. This is having an effect on the relatives of the residents. There is a great deal of stress about what is happening.

I understand the HSE has taken charge of the running of the facility because the operator of the home, Passage Healthcare, has gone into liquidation. The residents, staff and the relatives want to know what is the future of the nursing home. There is a great deal of stress and uncertainty over whether it will close down. I hope it will not and the HSE will come up with solutions to keep the facility open.

There are a number of possible scenarios. A new operator might run the facility or the HSE could directly intervene and run it, which is probably the best solution. As we have seen, 80% of all nursing homes are privately operated for profit rather than the common good. The operator can no longer run this nursing home. There have been issues with fire regulations in Lucan Lodge Nursing Home and another facility Passage Healthcare operated in Tallaght, Sally Park Nursing Home. These issues caused enormous inconvenience to residents in Sally Park and are now causing great inconvenience to the residents in Lucan Lodge. It is important that residents are given some sort of assurance about the future of the nursing home. Hopefully, a solution can be found to keep it open and the residents in place.

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