TD says Laois Offaly nursing homes 'terrified' by viability threat

A Laois Offaly TD claims there is a ‘clear and present’ threat to the viability of nursing homes in the constituency. 

Independent TD Carol Nolan has said Government must take immediate action to mitigate the insurance related threat. She said nursing home owners in Laois and Offaly are terrified by the issue. 

Deputy Nolan has been warning of a threat to nursing homes with fewer than 40 beds since 2020, when she intervened with the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, calling on him to address “a crisis” that had developed for many nursing homes following the exit of one of sectors main insurance providers.

In his reply,  the Minister said that if nursing homes have queries, complaints or difficulties in obtaining insurance, they should send an email to Insurance Ireland. Deputy Nolan described this reply as “grossly inadequate” given the nature of the crisis that was being brought to Government’s attention

“We now know from data supplied by Nursing Homes Ireland that 14 private and voluntary nursing homes with 411 registered beds (average 30) have closed their doors the past two years and that a further three will be closing their doors in the weeks ahead,” Deputy Nolan said.

“In the immediate term the reasons for this are related to the exponential growth in energy costs, inflationary pressures and the complete inability of providers to meet the costs that are being demanded of them for the delivery of service,” she remarked. 

“In the broader sense however these problems have been ongoing for a number of years now; not least with respect to the massive difficulties which emerged in 2020 when one of only two insurance providers for the sector exited the Irish market. This left nursing homes with less than 40 beds at the mercy of the premiums demanded by the remaining insurance company,” claimed Deputy Nolan. 

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She said “I raised this at the time with the Minister for Finance following representations made to me by nursing homes in Laois and Offaly who were terrified that the situation we find ourselves in today would eventually arrive if no action was taken.”

Deputy Nolan claimed that despite their knowledge of the situation, the government has failed to bring forward any measures to ease the burden. 

“If this issue is not addressed then families and residents are likely to experience significant amounts of stress, disruption, and increased financial costs in the short to medium term. Families deserve better than this. Our older people deserve better. It's high time this Government prioritised care in the community over its fixation on climate change and the pursuit of polices that are playing a material role in driving up energy costs for everyone and pushing older people out into the cold,” concluded Deputy Nolan.