The closure of nursing homes in Mayo and around Ireland has been condemned by Aontú representative for Mayo, Paul Lawless and Mayo Sinn Fein TD, Rose Conway-Walsh.
Describing the recent closure of St. Anne’s Nursing Home in Charlestown as heartbreaking, Paul Lawless said: "The closure of St. Anne’s Nursing home is truly heart-breaking. The residents are emotional. The staff are emotional. The government was warned this would happen. Aontú raised this in the Dáil last week with both Minister Rabbitte and Minister Butler. Aontú warned that the Minister was sleep-walking towards a nursing home capacity cliff-edge. The government are not listening and homes are being forced to shut their doors."
Mr. Lawless continued: "I am furious at the situation the government has allowed to develop. This is a most distressing situation for residents and staff in St. Anne’s. This is a huge blow to the residents who called St. Anne’s home, the dedicated staff, families and indeed the entire county. Our elderly have been let down once again - people who have worked hard building this country, rearing their children and paying their taxes all their lives.
"There is a shocking emergency within the nursing home sector at present, which is experiencing a 36% increase in cost of care since 2017. One third of nursing homes are losing money. 900 Nursing Home beds have been lost in the system in the last three years. The ESRI says we need 40,000 residential care places by 2030. This is double what we have now.
"A report published in the last couple of weeks by Nursing Homes Ireland found that 33% of nursing homes that were surveyed, reported an operating loss in 2022, up from 19% in 2021. On average there is €730 more per week for HSE homes, in terms of funding, when compared with private nursing homes. The fair deal scheme isn’t fair," said Mr. Lawless.
The issue was also raised by Mayo Sinn Fein TD Rose Conway-Walsh, who said that the government must listen to older people and their families in Mayo and take urgent action to build public capacity and halt nursing home closures.
She stated: "In the last three years, there have been 31 private and voluntary nursing home closures resulting in the loss of 915 beds. Without government intervention, this will get considerably worse.
"We have seen a loss of capacity in the region with closures of three nursing homes in both Galway and Roscommon causing a loss of 179 places. In Mayo, St Anne's Nursing Home in Sonnagh, Charlestown informed HIQA of their intention to close, meaning a loss of 26 places.
"An increasing number of nursing homes are considering leaving the Fair Deal Scheme and maintain it is not providing sustainable funding, while many more reported an operating loss in 2022 and are raising concerns about the viability of the sector.
"Our older people need love, support and security in their golden years but instead an increasing number of them are being told that there is nowhere for them to go. This is causing incredible stress for them and their families, and cannot be allowed to continue. As a society, we can and must be so much better than that, and we need a government that is better than that.
"We need a plan that builds up public capacity and that shifts the burden of reliance away from the private sector. But in the here and now, we must halt the trend of nursing homes closing.
"The Dáil goes into recess next month and we simply cannot have a situation where government TDs head off on their holidays without putting in place a plan to address this crisis.
"Sinn Féin is calling on the government to deliver and fund a collective pay agreement for workers in the nursing home sector, review public funding for long-term nursing home care, reform the pricing mechanism for the Fair Deal scheme, and fund hospitals to contract beds in local nursing homes.
"Failure to address the rapidly decreasing capacity in our nursing homes is a dereliction of duty from the government, and I urge government TDs here in Mayo to support our efforts to address this issue."
