Louth TD hosts All Party Oireachtas Life and Dignity Group event on nursing home crisis

A cross-party audience of TDs and Senators attended an event in Leinster House on Tuesday, 6 December, titled ‘Caring for Us as We Age: A Proactive Approach on Nursing Homes’. Professor Des O’Neill, a consultant geriatrician at Tallaght University Hospital and Peamount Healthcare as well as a lecturer in Trinity College Dublin’s School of Medicine, spoke to politicians on the crisis within nursing homes.

Professor O’ Neill outlined how, due to the large-scale privatisation of nursing homes, insecurity has set in about clear and uniform leadership and standards. He identified how the current crisis in nursing homes has been long in gestation. In addition to offering an analysis of the current problems which followed the ‘perfect storm’ of Covid-19, Professor O’Neill detailed alternative models which should stimulate a public debate on the future of nursing homes.

The event was organised by the All Party Oireachtas Life and Dignity Group, a cross-party group of TDs and Senators whose members are interested in promoting an authentic vision of human rights in the Oireachtas and in civil society, emphasising the right to life and dignity of every human person. It is co-chaired by independent TDs, Louth's Peter Fitzpatrick and Carol Nolan.

Speaking after the event, Deputy Fitzpatrick said: “We were very pleased to listen to the incisive testimony of Professor Desmond O’Neill, who addressed many of the deeper issues with nursing homes beyond simply the question of funding. He described how the number of private nursing homes in the sector has jumped from just 20 percent in the 1980s to 70 percent by 2017. The rapid commercialisation of nursing homes poses issues for the future of the sector.

“Examples such as the Green House movement and the Eden Alternative, which takes a positive and proactive approach to ageing in a community care setting, should be examined by a public enquiry into the future of nursing home care. With an ageing but a healthier population, investing in high quality nursing homes must be a priority for the government”