October date for nursing home to open

In the Dáil last week Minister of State for Older People, Kieran O'Donnell, confirmed to Deputy Alan Kelly that he expects the new Nenagh Community Nursing Home to fully open with all 50 rooms later this month.

Deputy Kelly said: “I very much welcome this after a long fight to get to this point. I put my heart and soul into ensuring this unit was built. I spent over decade of my political career working on this as St Conlon's, which I have such affection for, will be closing. I ensured funding was put in place when I was a Minister in 2015 and helped generate a site beside the hospital. I was so delighted when it was handed over to the HSE but was furious when the government - announced by Fianna Fáil and Michael Lowry - decided to take it away from the people of Nenagh and surrounds last year to provide cover as a step down for UHL. The community, supported by Cllrs Louise Morgan Walsh, Fiona Bonfield and Séamie Morris, stood with me as we fought against this decision and thousands marched through Nenagh in protest.

"The HSE brought in a private company, Bartra, to run the facility and now that has ended, and HIQA have been asked to authorise the building as a nursing home. As it was built as a state-of-the-art nursing home this process should not take long. The HSE last March informed me that this would revert back to being a nursing home in September this year and that all current residents in St Conlon's would along with the staff transfer then. This hasn’t happened yet, but I expect it to happen soon. The HSE assured me a year ago that there would be no issues with staffing the new nursing home as they had panels of workers in place and would have a year to plan. I assume that the HSE have done this and now will deliver on what the Minister has told me in the Dáil. The Bartra workers are also willing to apply for positions with the HSE in the facility once the HSE panels are utilised and this is also a positive. Thes workers have serious concerns in relation to how they have been treated by Bartra and I have contacted the company and their union in relation to this issue.

“The Minister for Older People said he consulted in detail with the HSE before he responded to me in the Dáil. Given that, I expect that what he has committed to will be honoured and that the new community nursing home which so many families, including a number with loved ones having prolonged stays in hospitals in Nenagh and the MidWest are desperate to see open, will be honoured. If that doesn’t happen I can assure you I will call out this Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents Government for continuing to fail all these families and the dedicated workers of St Conlon's.”