Families of loved-one who passed away from Covid in Dundalk nursing home still waiting for answers a year after their deaths

Families of loved-ones who passed away of Covid-19 in Dealgan House Nursing Home are still waiting for answers a year after their deaths.

Dealgan House in Toberona was one of the worst hit nursing homes in the country with 22 residents dying during the pandemic.

There have been constant calls for the Government to establish a public inquiry but a year on from the tragic deaths relatives are still waiting for answers.

Dundalk TD Ruairí Ó Murchú raised the issue of a public inquiry into the deaths of 22 people at Dealgan House Nursing Home again last week with the Minister for Health - a day short of the first anniversary of him raising it in the Dáil for the first time.

The Sinn Féin TD questioned health minister Stephen Donnelly and Minister of State with Responsibility for Older People, Mary Butler about when families, who are seeking answers about how and why their loved ones died, will get a response to their calls for a public inquiry.

Ministers Donnelly and Butler met with some of the bereaved Dundalk families on October 28 but despite assurances from the health minister that a decision about a public inquiry would be made ‘within weeks’, they have not been informed.

On May 7, 2020, Deputy Ó Murchú was the first TD to publicly raise the high number of deaths during a Covid 19 outbreak at Dealgan House Nursing Home in April and May.

He has consistently called for a mechanism to be made available to families to find out the truth of what happened.

In his latest submission to the Dáil, Deputy Ó Murchú said: "I want to bring up once again the case of Dealgan Nursing Home and the tragic case we had this time last year of losing 22 residents.

“Yourself (Minister Donnelly) and Minister Butler met with some of these families and you have accepted that a mechanism is needed to deliver answers.

“The families are obviously looking for a public inquiry and I believe that is the best method for learnings and for also providing answers.

“The nursing home, HIQA and the HSE all have questions to answer and also have a right to their narrative.

“So if you can give me an update?"

In response, Minister Butler said: “I am very aware that listening to families can bring great learnings to many situations.

“While we are still dealing with daily case numbers, we are continuing to look at options which may be available to the State in relation to listening to those who have lost loved ones.”

Louth TD Ged Nash also reiterated calls for a Commission of Inquiry into the deaths at Dealgan House.

As the first anniversary of the deaths of 22 residents at Dealgan House passes, Deputy Ged Nash has again called for a formal Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances around the deaths in the Dundalk nursing home last year.

He said: “I repeat the calls I made last year and have continued to make since, that a formal Commission of Inquiry ought to be instigated by the Minister for Health into the deaths of older citizens at Dealgan House last year.

“It is important to note that this was the only privately run nursing home institution to have effectively been taken over by the State during the pandemic.

“An inquiry is something that the families who lost loved ones are calling for, and it is a call I fully endorse.

“For a host of reasons it is important that we get a full understanding of what happened at Dealgan House, and why, and to make sure that important lessons can be learned and applied so as no family anywhere in Ireland will have to go through this kind of loss and turmoil again.

“The families and all local TDs have been working together to obtain the answers to the questions we all have.

“The frustration we have all encountered in terms of half-answered questions and a failure of decision-makers to engage with families to the extent that they should suggests to me that the only way we can get to the bottom of what happened at Dealgan House is to have a full inquiry, approved by the Dail.

“This is the least the families and their lost loved ones deserve.”

Dealgan House chief executive Eoin Farrelly said the facility would fully cooperate with an inquiry.

“From the time the issue was first raised, Dealgan House has indicated that it would fully cooperate with any inquiry the Government chooses to establish into Covid-19 deaths in Nursing Homes", he said.

“That remains our position.”