Nenagh TD says HSE recruitment ban is preventing town's €19m nursing home from opening

The multi-million euro purpose-built St Conlon's Community Care Unit beside Nenagh Hospital cannot open because of the HSE ban on recruitment, according to Tipperary TD Alan Kelly.

Work was due to be completed on the €19m facility in 2023, with its opening timeline dependent on HSE recruitment.

However, the Labour TD has been told by HSE Mid-West Community Care, following a Parliamentary Question that "due to the current employment measures in place within the HSE, recruitment of staff has been paused. Therefore, we are unable to ascertain a timeline to when required WTEs will be in place to open Nenagh Community Nursing Home. Successful recruitment of staff will determine the timeline for opening." 

Deputy Kelly said in a statement that he had a long history with the provision of public elderly care facilities in Nenagh and had supported St Conlon’s Nursing Home all his career as he knew the excellent care they had given to many families, including his own.

"That’s why I announced funding for a new 50-bed state-of-the-art community hospital in the town in 2016, worked with the HSE to find a suitable site beside Nenagh Hospital in 2017; brought the Minister for Elderly Care to visit the site in 2018; worked with everyone to ensure planning was approved in 2019 and construction commenced thereafter," he said.

Deputy Kelly said that he was delighted in May 2022 when the Minister confirmed the to him in writing that it was expected that the new nursing home would be completed in May 2023. That didn’t happen, but it was substantially completed by the end of last year.

" I was expecting as a consequence that the new nursing home would be opening soon and that current residents would transfer there and new residents would arrive. I know many, many families who wish to see their relatives and family members become residents of this fabulous facility.

"Unfortunately the news I got recently from Government is very depressing. Through a Parliamentary Question I put down to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, I have been informed by the HSE that they are not in a position to open the facility and they are ‘unable to ascertain a timeline’ for doing so. In essence the embargo that is in place for recruitment in the HSE means that they cannot open the facility as they cannot recruit the necessary staff.

"This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. The current St Conlon’s Nursing Home won’t meet Hiqa requirements so we had to build this new community nursing home and now we can’t open it because of the HSE recruitment embargo and this Government are allowing this to happen.

"The Government and their supporters need to be woken up by the people of Nenagh and surrounds that this is not acceptable. I fought for this new unit. I worked every year to bring it to this stage. It is an incredible building and so badly needed and deserved. We now need to get it open and this Government needs to be told that," he said.