I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for affording me the opportunity to raise this important matter. The nursing home in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, is one of the oldest health establishments in the county and has been in existence for over half a century. Unfortunately, the sisters had to close the home at the end of December last. Prior to closing they were not allowed by the health board to admit patients since June 2000.
Many discussions and meetings have been held. One very crucial meeting was held between the five Oireachtas Members from Clare and senior executives of the Mid-Western Health Board in their head office in Limerick. At that meeting a very clear commitment was given to the five Oireachtas Members from County Clare, including the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Deputy de Valera, who holds a constitutional position. The commitment given was clear and definitive, that is, that the health board was not prepared to take over the running of the Stella Maris nursing home nor was it prepared to purchase it. However, it would be prepared – this followed many discussions and connecting with other health boards such as the North Eastern Health Board – to put in place a certain package. A commitment was given to the five Oireachtas Members that they would subvent 35 beds for the care of the elderly to the tune of £200 per bed for a minimum of ten years. Given that this was stated openly and clearly to the five Oireachtas Members from Clare, needless to say, it was soon conveyed by us to the action committee, the Friends of Lisdoonvarna Stella Maris nursing home. The result was that people who had not previously shown interest in the nursing home then did so.
A fundamental principle is at stake here. First, a commitment was given to the Oireachtas Members from Clare on which it now appears the health board is reneging. Second, the health board agreed that there was a need for this facility in north Clare given the demography of the area and the disproportionate number of elderly people in the area. Given that the home had to be closed down by the end of December for legal and labour law reasons, they also gave a commitment that having placed the patients elsewhere – some patients were placed outside the county in County Galway – they would be returned to Stella Maris as soon as it was opened. What happened since is dishonourable, despicable and totally unacceptable.
As a public representative from Clare, I will not stand for the way the Mid-Western Health Board is treating the people of north Clare or indeed the Oireachtas Members from Clare. When potential purchasers contacted the health board it responded:
The position the Board must take in regard to your proposal, which is similar to the position already taken with the other party is that the Board cannot enter into any prior agreements/arrangements with a prospective purchaser of a closed Nursing Home. In addition, the Board cannot guarantee that it will enter into any arrangements with any new owners of the former Nursing Home should the former Nursing Home be purchased for the purpose of operating it as a Private Nursing Home, then, the Board will be prepared to discuss options for the contracting of services by the Board, as appropriate, but without any prior commitment whatsoever on the Board's part.
It issued the following press release yesterday to the local media in Clare:
We are informed that one prospective purchaser is said to be at an advanced stage in the purchase of Stella Maris. Such a purchase, if finalized, will be done without any commitment on the Board's behalf to contract nursing home beds from the new proprietor. The Board has not, and will not, enter into any prior arrangements with any prospective purchaser of the former nursing home, Stella Maris.
This is all very fine and, needless to say, one cannot operate in a nebulous situation; one must have something concrete with which to deal. However, I believe the commitment given to the Oireachtas Members should be publicly stated and restated so that it is not just confined to a purchaser who has the capital to purchase and who does not actually need a letter of comfort to support raising money in the bank if he or she chooses to purchase. By adopting this position, the health board is automatically excluding people who have not the necessary capital to buy the property without a commitment of any nature, while the actual need and requirement for beds exists, which it has admitted.
My request to the Minister of State is very clear. On 1 December the Oireachtas Members had a meeting in Limerick with senior personnel from the health board in their offices. That evening they were sending a submission to the Department of Health and Children seeking the type of financial support required and making the proposal in writing to the health board. As far as I am concerned, we were given to understand that the goodwill, intent and commitment were there to do this. We will not accept the way we are being treated from the point of view of providing proper care for the elderly of north Clare. These people deserve to be left in north Clare and not shipped off somewhere else, or out of the county in some instances. The health board has acknowledged this fact.
I am asking the Minister of State to do one very simple thing, that is, to check the proposals which were sent to his Department on 1 December and, having checked them, to get on to the health board to stop the duplicity as far as the Stella Maris nursing home is concerned. He should tell the health board to stop playing games to the advantage of one person over another. If arrangements were put in place subsequent to the purchase, it has played games to automatically exclude others. If public money is involved, there should be transparency and accountability. It is imperative for the Minister of State to ensure there is fair play in relation to who purchases the property. This will automatically ensure fair play for the elderly of north Clare when it comes to the provision of a proper and competent service, operated by capable and competent people.
I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for affording me the opportunity to raise this very serious matter. It is serious because of the nature of the issue and the fact that public representatives deserve to be treated better by their health board than has been the case to date. These letters and press statements totally renege on the word given to us on 1 December in Perry Street, Limerick.
