Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)

The recent "RTÉ Investigates" documentary "Inside Ireland's Nursing Homes", which aired on 4 June, showed us all the terrible conditions in some nursing homes in the midlands and Dublin. We were all horrified and shocked by the programme and the way the most vulnerable in our society are being treated - by some. I do not want to tar everybody with the same brush. When we hear what is said in this House sometimes, and rightly so, in defence of innocent, elderly people being abused, it can seem as if staff in every nursing home are doing this, and they are not. I spoke to Mr. Tadhg Daly, CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland, at great length and he assured me there are great nursing homes out there. He does not need to tell me that because I have seen them. I have visited them. There is the Fairfield Nursing Home in Drimoleague, Bushmount Nursing Home and CareChoice in Clonakilty and the Skibbereen Residential Care Centre. All of these are providing a fantastic service to people and the families love the service they are providing. We need to get the point across that while there are bad apples out there and they need to be weeded out, not everybody is a bad apple.

I call into question HIQA and the way it carries out its checks, given that this was not spotted previously. It gets to the point where elderly people are being treated inhumanely and that is something I would not stand for, but it has not stopped.

We all know the crisis that it out there at the moment. I raised Perrott House in Skibbereen in the House with the Tánaiste last week. Families, who had people inside in Perrott House in Skibbereen, were told six or seven weeks ago that they are going to be moved. It is a mental health unit but it is for the elderly. They have had no communication since as to where they are going, whether they going long term, short term, being kept there or if they will they be able to return. The answers to simple questions are being refused to people. Basically, the families were rung and told not to be listening to Michael Collins in the Dáil at all. The families asked Perrott House what they were doing but were told "Sorry, we cannot tell you". That is another type of abuse.

I also mention the old Aperee Living Bantry nursing home. That is a crisis situation. It was closed down and now is almost across the line. The liquidator has it sold but there is a problem with HIQA and the liquidator, whatever it is. However, 17 beds are available there to be delivered for the people. It is very important that this would be looked into immediately and that HIQA would be asked to sit down with the liquidator, tell him the issues and get on with the sale of the nursing home. These 17 beds are closed and they had been brought up to full standard so we could allow people in. I have people all over west Cork pleading with me for a bed. Good God, they are pleading with me for a bed in a nursing home and to think there are 17 there. It is just a little bit of paperwork. It is no longer anything to do with the condition because the home has been brought up to standard. The sale has been almost approved but there is something holding up getting it across the line and people are suffering. HIQA has to stand up here and say, "Okay, let us get this right. This is the problem here." I have met HIQA officials but they are telling me due to GDPR that there are certain things they cannot tell me. The liquidator says he does not know what is going on so there is a problem. We need that resolved straight away in the old Aperee nursing home in Bantry so that we can have people guaranteed that they have safeguarded their homes going forward.

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