2026-05-12

I am glad to get the opportunity to raise with the Minister of State the proposed opening of the new Killarney community nursing home, which has been completed for over 12 months. There is a lot of frustration in the region, the town and all around it with the delay in opening it. As I said, it has been completed for over 12 months. The lights were on there every night through the winter. The heating has been on and everything, and people are wondering. Councillor Maura Healy-Rae brought a motion to the area meeting some days ago and she was supported by her fellow councillors. Each of them has often asked why there is a delay, what is happening and why it is not opening. There is a conflict in relation to the proposed staffing of the hospital. It will require a lot of extra staffing. The INMO said recently that the HSE has not engaged with it regarding the staffing issues. In recent days, a senior HSE official said the HSE is engaging with the INMO every week. Someone is right and someone is wrong, or maybe both are wrong, or maybe both are right, but at the same time, the hospital has not been opened. So much is contingent on this hospital opening. The present district hospital in Killarney and St. Columbanus home are practically together. The long-stay patients in St. Columbanus home are to be moved to the new hospital to make way for a primary care clinic. The old district hospital is to make way for respite for elderly people and, as I understand it, elderly people in care are entitled to four weeks of respite. Many people did not get that in our area last year. We also have a minor injuries clinic. That is to be in St. Columbanus home, the respite is to be in the district hospital, and we do not yet know where the primary care clinic is going to be. They are all contingent on each other. Does the Minister of State know when the hospital will open? Does he know if there is engagement between the nurses' union and the HSE? God almighty, the amount of money that the HSE has got in this year's budget alone. The worry is that it has come out in recent days to say there is an embargo on hiring staff in the south west. We are in the south west and I hope this is not going to hit or hurt our hospital opening. As I said to the Minister of State, there is ambivalence about who meets whom, but they certainly need to meet each other and we need to get the hospital open. I am asking the Minister of State to give me an answer about what is happening, if he can.

I thank Deputy Healy-Rae for raising this important matter. Long-term residential care is a crucial part of the overall continuum of care and, across the country, our HSE community nursing units, CNUs, and community hospitals play a vital role in the provision of long-term care and other services. The Government is committed to continued investment in healthcare infrastructure that supports the highest quality care for our older population. This investment includes the community nursing home capital programme, which was launched to ensure that up to 90 of our public community nursing units and community hospitals would be refurbished or replaced to ensure the best quality environments for our older people. The public private partnership aspect of the community nursing unit programme continues to progress and will deliver 528 beds in seven facilities across the country. The new community nursing unit in Killarney is part of the public private partnership project and will have a complement of 130 beds providing 50 long-stay beds, 30 dementia-specific beds and 50-short stay beds. The CNU will provide a high-quality living environment that will be in line with all regulatory requirements. I advise the Deputy that the new facility was handed over to the HSE by the contractor in December 2025. I accept that is over four or five months ago. HSE South West has advised me that preparations for Killarney CNU to welcome residents are now at an advanced stage. The application for the registration of Killarney CNU has been submitted to HIQA and an opening date for the new CNU will be fully finalised once HIQA registration has been achieved, and this will allow for the opening over the coming weeks. Once HIQA registration is secured, the new unit will open on a phased basis, with a planned transfer of residents from St. Columbanus and the district hospital, as the Deputy already referenced, to the new building. HSE South West has assured me that there is ongoing engagement with residents and their families ahead of the transfer. I have taken a particular personal interest in the opening of this CNU. I have met the HSE on a number of occasions with Department officials to ensure that Killarney CNU is opened as quickly as possible. There is a process, and part of the process is that it has to be taken over by the HSE, which happened in December, and then there is an application to HIQA, which has happened. I have requested that engagement with residents and their families take place. All current staff will transfer to the new facility, and I have been advised that the recruitment campaigns for the additional staff required are well under way to allow for the opening of the additional beds in Killarney CNU. The current two nursing homes have 101 patients. Those staff will transfer to the new CNU. There will be an additional 29 patients to bring it up to a full complement of 130. Engagement with union representatives at a local level is also ongoing and I thank the staff representatives for their continued engagement. That is taking place. I have spoken directly to the HSE about it and have been assured that it is taking place. I thank the staff representative bodies for their continued engagement. I advise the Deputy that HSE South West will continue to engage with residents, families, staff and the wider community on all updates in relation to the opening of the new Killarney community nursing unit. HSE South West advises that it does not envisage that the current delay in opening the new Killarney community nursing unit will have any impact on services or new developments. HSE South West is planning to set up an injury unit in the vacated St. Columbanus building to support the existing emergency department in University Hospital Kerry in Tralee and does not foresee any delay in these planned services. A process to appoint a design team to progress the proposal is under way and is expected to conclude in the quarter 2 of this year. The opening of the new community nursing unit in Killarney is an absolute priority for me, the Department of Health and the HSE, and indeed the Government. This state-of-the-art CNU will enhance the lives of older people in Killarney and the surrounding areas for many years to come by providing the highest quality health and social care services, and I look forward to seeing it fully operational.

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I have worries and questions about how this will be opened on a phased basis. Is the Minister of State saying to me that 101 beds will open at the start? When will the other 29 beds open? I can see right away that there will be a requirement for new staff if we are moving the staff out of the St. Columbanus home and then out of the district hospital. I do not know where the differences in the statements from the INMO and the senior official in the HSE came from but the Minister of State seems to be adamant that they have been talking. It would be remiss of me if I did not mention this tonight but I want to thank the staff in the district hospital and who are in the St. Columbanus home at the minute for the great care and attention that they have given to patients in both places back over the years, including all the different members of staff who served there and did so well. I thank each and every one of them. However, I am looking forward because, like I said to the Minister of State, there is deep frustration in the area as to what is wrong and why it is not open. It has been added to by the story from the HSE that there is an embargo in hiring staff in the south west for the rest of this year. It is true that it has come out and said that. I hope that it will not hurt us in Killarney in any way because we have waited long enough. We have waited for the minor injuries clinic. We have been asking for it for over ten years, as well as the primary care clinic and the respite that so many carers deserve. People could not go on a week's holiday last summer because they had no place to get their parent, or in some cases a brother and a sister, into. I am asking for special attention for Killarney because we have waited long enough.

I thank Deputy Healy-Rae. I join with him in commending all the staff in both St. Columbanus and the district hospital in Killarney who provide such a great service to the patients who are there. As I said, the 101 patients will transfer over to the new community nursing home unit. All current staff will transfer to the new facility and I have been advised that the recruitment campaigns for additional staff are well under way to allow for the opening of the additional beds in Killarney. I want to see the new community nursing home unit open in Killarney. That is a process. There is an application before HIQA and the way that will work is that the existing residents in St. Columbanus and the district hospital will transfer to the new nursing home when it is registered. I want to see the additional capacity of 29 beds in the CNU to bring it up to 130 beds to be in place as quickly as possible. As I said, it will provide 50 long-stay beds, 30 dementia-specific beds and 50 short-stay beds. It is hugely important and is a priority for me as the Minister of State with responsibility for older people. It is a priority for the Department of Health, the HSE and the Government. We will get the new, state-of-the-art community nursing home unit in Killarney open as quickly as possible. Everyone is working actively on that goal for Killarney. I will continue to meet the HSE, along with the Department of Health officials, to ensure that it continues to get the priority it deserves. I again state that the opening of the new community nursing home unit in Killarney is an absolute priority for myself, the Department of Health and the HSE. I am committed to ensuring that the residents can move into their new homes without delay. It is their home and that is something that is very important. I once again thank the staff representatives for their engagement. This is a collaborative effort and we all want to work to ensure that we get this new 130-bed state-of-the-art nursing home unit in Killarney open as quickly as possible.

I thank the Minister of State. I was asked to ask him if some official from the HSE could meet with the councillors from the Killarney electoral area?

I will follow up on that request.