Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise that I must leave as soon as I have made my contribution to rejoin a meeting with a group from my constituency so I will not hear the Minister’s response.

The Minister will be very aware of the issues in relation to Beaumont Nursing Homes. The motion is about the sector generally. It is facing potentially an existential crisis. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, will be very aware of my concerns on this. Some of my colleagues have given examples of some of the people who live in these homes. It is worth remembering that nursing homes are not sterile places where people simply sleep and eat. These are places where life happens. They are places where people live. I am sure people can think of all types of examples from their own lives. I think of bringing my son in to meet his great-grandmother, her very first great-grandchild. I think of my cousin on the other side going in in her wedding dress on the morning of her wedding. These are places where, yes, loss happens and hardship happens but also great happiness, great joy and great love as well as great care. That is what these homes provide. The model we have selected may not be the ideal model in many ways but it is the model we have and we have to make it work for the residents and their relatives and loved ones. I have talked about care and I am thinking of some of the people I have met over the last week. I met Eoghan Horgan, the husband of Madeleine Horgan who was a designer who worked in fashion and sales and she instilled a good work ethic. She taught her employees the importance of loyalty and hard work. In 2013, she was diagnosed with early-stage dementia and the family made the hard decision to bring her to Beaumont Nursing Home. I spoke to Eoghan. He is a man of great dignity but also great resolve. He is an absolute gentlemen but he is very determined not to allow what is happening to happen and to ensure there is a solution. I share his determination. I met John Murphy earlier today for the second time. His father Patrick Murphy worked in CIÉ from 1949. He is in his 99th year. He worked for decades for a semi-state company. As a taxpayer he paid his dues and as a family man he raised his family. Surely he and his family do not deserve this uncertainty. We need a solution. We need full engagement from the Government and a solution not only in Beaumont but across the sector to reassure people and bring an end to this stress and trauma that residents, staff and relatives are suffering.

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