Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Kelly for raising this important matter. By way of overview, long-term residential care is a crucial part of the overall continuum of care throughout the country. Our HSE community nursing units and community hospitals play a vital role in the provision of long-term care and other services. I am also very conscious of the importance of strengthening the capacity and resilience of our health system through the delivery of health and social care infrastructure. This Government is committed to continued investment in healthcare infrastructure which supports the highest quality care for our older population.

On the specific point raised by Deputy Kelly, this investment includes the community nursing unit capital programme, which was launched in 2016 to ensure that up to 90 of our public community nursing units and community hospitals would be refurbished or replaced to ensure the best quality for our older people. As part of this capital programme, older person services in the north Tipperary area are being enhanced by the opening of a new state-of-the-art 50-bed community nursing unit in Nenagh, replacing the St. Conlon’s community nursing unit, to which Deputy Kelly referred. A significant investment of €22 million was allocated to this project. The new Nenagh community nursing unit will have a complement of 50 beds, as Deputy Kelly has stated, providing long-stay care, respite care and palliative care services. The unit will provide a high-quality living environment, which will be in line with all regulatory requirements.

As Deputy Kelly is aware, in order to alleviate the significant pressures at UHL, a decision was made to utilise the new Nenagh community nursing unit building, on an interim basis, as a step-down sub-acute and rehabilitation facility for UHL. As Deputy Kelly has said, it is run by a private provider with expertise in such services. The interim use of the unit in Nenagh has provided highly valuable support to the region pending the completion of the first of two 96-bed blocks for UHL, scheduled to be completed in mid-2025. It has always been the intention that this temporary arrangement would be reviewed within one year and that the unit in Nenagh would open for long-term residential care services 12 months after the contract commenced with the private provider. This is still the case. I have followed up on this and it is still the case.

I wish to inform Deputy Kelly that HSE mid-west is working towards a HSE-led model of service delivery at Nenagh community nursing unit.

This will include long-term residential care services, commencing in quarter three this year, for the current St. Conlon's residents. I also assure the Deputy that I am committed to working alongside the HSE to address all concerns in respect of residential care for older people in Nenagh and north Tipperary, now and into the future.

I reiterate the particular point the Deputy raised, which is that the HSE is working towards moving the residents from St. Conlon's to the new community nursing facility in Nenagh within 12 months of the contract being signed with the private provider. That is still the case. Obviously, it arose because of the huge pressures in UHL and I appreciate what this means for the residents of St. Conlon's and their families. I will be working to ensure the residents of St. Conlon's are transferred to the new state-of-the-art facility in Nenagh within 12 months of the contact being signed with the private provider to provide the services for the alleviation of pressures on UHL with that 50-bed unit in the community nursing facility in Nenagh.

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