Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I am pleased to advise the Deputy that on-going consultation with all stakeholders and the public in general is already a standard feature of our approach across policy areas. Both my Ministerial colleagues, myself and officials from the Department regularly meet with stakeholders from across the public, private and voluntary sector to discuss policies, services and developments including those for Older People. In fact officials of the Department have recently met and are always happy to receive suggestions and other input from Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI), which has called for the establishment of a forum of this nature.

The Department established a Working Group to develop the policy document “Towards a Restraint Free Environment in Nursing Homes”. Representatives from Nursing Homes Ireland were included on the Group. The Department has also engaged with NHI in the development of Care and Welfare Regulations and in the recent review of these regulations. Other recent examples of the type of consultation carried out include the development of the new National Positive Ageing Strategy and the National Strategy on Dementia. The Deputy will be aware that the Department is currently conducting a Review of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme to examine, inter alia, the on-going sustainability of the Scheme. A public consultation process, which NHI contributed to, has already been undertaken to inform the Review. Summary reports of the latter consultations are available on the Department’s website. The establishment of an additional formal consultation forum such as that suggested by NHI is not considered necessary given the very effective level of consultation that already takes place and to which we remain committed for the future.