28 May 2013, 16:54
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions will tomorrow afternoon meet with Dr Ambrose McLoughlin, Secretary General of the Department of Health and Children, to consider to legacy issues arising from the Ombudsman’s 2010 “Who Cares?” report.
28 May 2013
The report pointed to perceived shortcomings of the public health service in delivering nursing home care for the elderly.
Chairman of the Committee Pádraig Mac Lochlainn says: \"The ‘Who Cares’ report, published by the Ombudsman in November 2010, highlighted deficiencies in the provision of nursing home care in Ireland. The report is based on over 1,000 individual complaints made to the Office of the Ombudsman since 1985, on behalf of older people who were unable to get long-term nursing home care from their health boards or the HSE.
“At a Committee meeting in February, Dr McLoughlin contested the position that health boards had an obligation, since 1970, to provide long stay care for older people. He argued that adequate resources had never been provided to honour such obligations. As a Committee with a formal relationship with the Ombudsman, we look forward to exploring further with Dr McLoughlin some of the legacy issues arising from this 2010 report.”
The meeting takes place tomorrow Wednesday 29 May in Committee Room 3, LH 2000 at 4 pm, and can be viewed online via this link.
Get involved: Make a petition and view petitions received so far.
For further information please contact:
Paul Hand,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee Membership
Deputies:
Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit Alliance
Joan Collins, People Before Profit Alliance
Michael Conaghan, Labour
Alan Farrell, Fine Gael
Charles Flanagan, Fine Gael
Michael Healy-Rae, Independent
Peter Mathews, Fine Gael
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, Sinn Féin (Chairman)
Michelle Mulherin, Fine Gael
Derek Nolan, Labour (Vice-Chairman)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Sinn Féin
Seán Ó Fearghaíl, Fianna Fáil
John Paul Phelan, Fine Gael
Senators:
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh
Jimmy Harte
Tony Mulcahy
Susan O’Keeffe