Nursing home documentary should be investigated by gardaí – Tanaiste

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

The treatment of residents at nursing homes featured in an RTÉ documentary should be investigated by gardaí, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.

He also said the state is too reliant on private nursing home care and “far too many” people in Ireland go into nursing homes “far too early”.

Labour TD Marie Sherlock said during Leaders’ Questions that there are “huge questions for Government” over how to care for older people in Ireland.

She said there are no minimum staffing levels for nursing homes, despite there being such standards in Northern Ireland and elsewhere.

“Are you comfortable that the nursing home sector is becoming dominated by big business in Ireland?” she asked.

Responding, Mr Harris said: “The short answer is I believe the state is too reliant on the private market when it comes to nursing home provision.

“That’s why we established a commission of care because I do think we need to look at the entire model of how we care for older people in this country.”

He also told the Dáil: “I’ve been reflecting on this, and I fully accept that people work in very demanding environments, I fully accept that as well.

“But I do also believe what stems from what we’ve seen on our television screens in recent days are real questions of personal accountability.

“There are laws in our land today. There are laws in relation to assault, there are laws in relation to how we conduct ourselves, and I would urge that a referral is made to An Garda Síochána in relation to the footage that we saw.

“Because what I saw with my own two eyes, the haunting scenes of people being, in my view, physically assaulted in their home, is something that – the Government has responsibilities here to do things, absolutely, but so too do people who carry out those actions.

“I do think there’s a need for a Garda investigation into what we saw in relation to the individual actions of people in relation to that.”

He also said Hiqa has questions to answer as there were “serious shortcomings”.

He added: “There are many good private nursing homes, big and small, right across the country and I don’t have an ideological view in relation that.

“I just want older people to have choice in relation to their care. I want their families to be supported in making those decisions.

“I want to know, whether it’s a public nursing home or a private nursing home, that everyone is safe, that everyone is being treated with dignity.

“I do think we should also be more ambitious about care in the community. I do believe that. I believe far too many people in Ireland go into a nursing home far too early. I can think of good examples of where we have housing alternatives in place and home care opportunities, but they’re far too rare.

“But I also think there are genuine, serious issues of personal accountability.

“There is no law, there is no ideology, or there is no model of care that can excuse away – either in its existence or its absence – the conduct of people who decided to physically manhandle elderly people with dementia, and I want them held accountable and I want the gardaí to look at the matter.”