Questions

206. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of court applications that have been initiated since 26 April 2023 concerning proposed or actual nursing-home placement where the person did not consent, objected to the placement, or where there was doubt as to consent; the number by year, hospital group, community healthcare organisation and applicant body; and the legal costs incurred by the State. […

207. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health whether guidance has issued to hospitals, community healthcare organisations, nursing homes and discharge teams on the legal position where an adult objects to nursing-home admission or transfer; whether she will provide a copy of any such guidance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35348/26]

208. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health whether any national protocol requires that a person’s will and preference, capacity, decision-support arrangements, advance healthcare directive, enduring power of attorney or decision-making representation order be checked before discharge to a nursing home; and whether such checks are recorded. [35349/26]

209. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health whether every adult subject to a contested nursing-home placement, proposed deprivation of liberty, or serious care-placement decision has access to independent advocacy; if not, whether she intends to provide for a statutory right to independent advocacy in such cases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35350/26]

210. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has estimated the number of persons in nursing homes who may currently be deprived of liberty, or living there contrary to their expressed will and preference, without a specific statutory safeguards framework; and whether that estimate has informed the drafting of protection of liberty safeguards legislation. [35351/26]

211. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health when the protection of Liberty Safeguards Bill will be published; whether it will apply to nursing homes and other residential care settings where a person may be deprived of liberty in practice; and if she will provide a timeline for publication, pre-legislative scrutiny and enactment. [35352/26]

212. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the guidance that has issued to hospitals, nursing homes and HSE discharge teams on the legal status of 'next-of-kin'; whether she accepts that next-of-kin status does not, in itself, confer legal authority to consent to nursing-home placement on behalf of another adult; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35353/26]

213. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the total legal costs incurred by the State in each year since 26 April 2023 in High Court proceedings concerning the care, treatment, placement, detention or deprivation of liberty of persons who lack or are alleged to lack capacity; the number of cases involved; the average cost per case; and if she will provide a breakdown, by applicant body and category of cas…

214. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the total legal costs incurred by the HSE in each year since 26 April 2023 in High Court proceedings concerning proposed or actual nursing-home placement where the person did not consent, objected to the placement, or where there was doubt as to consent; and if she will provide a breakdown by hospital group, community healthcare organisation and outcome of the pro…

215. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of High Court applications that have been initiated by or on behalf of the HSE since 26 April 2023 concerning proposed nursing-home placement, continued nursing-home placement, or delayed discharge from hospital arising from issues of consent, capacity, wardship, decision-support arrangements or deprivation of liberty; the total legal costs incurred in …

216. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has estimated the likely annual legal costs to the State of continuing to rely on High Court applications in cases involving contested nursing-home placements or deprivation of liberty in care settings in the absence of protection of liberty safeguards legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35362/26]

217. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the amount paid in each year since 26 April 2023 to external legal firms, counsel, expert witnesses, guardians ad litem, advocates or other professionals arising from High Court proceedings concerning contested care placements, nursing-home admissions, delayed hospital discharge, capacity or deprivation of liberty; and if she will provide a breakdown by category o…

218. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health whether any analysis has been carried out comparing the cost of High Court proceedings in contested nursing-home placement or deprivation-of-liberty cases with the projected cost of establishing a statutory protection of liberty safeguards framework; and if she will publish that analysis. [35364/26]

1140. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of residents in designated centres for older persons who were issued with a discharge notice, notice to terminate their contract of care, or any equivalent notice requiring them to leave the nursing home in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; broken down by HSE health region, county, public, private and voluntary provider type, and whethe…

1141. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of discharge notices, notices to terminate contracts of care, or equivalent notices issued to nursing home residents in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026 which were subsequently withdrawn; the reasons recorded for withdrawal; whether the withdrawal followed intervention by the HSE, HIQA, safeguarding services, an advocate, a family membe…

1142. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the recorded outcomes for nursing home residents who were issued with a discharge notice or equivalent notice in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, including the number who transferred to another nursing home, were admitted to hospital, returned home with supports, remained in the same nursing home, died before transfer, or had another outcome; and…

1143. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of nursing home residents who were admitted to an emergency department within seven, 14 and 30 days of being issued with a discharge notice, notice to terminate their contract of care, or equivalent notice in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of such admissions that were due to an acute medical event, a fall, behavioural or p…

1144. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE, HIQA, the National Treatment Purchase Fund or her Department collects data linking nursing home discharge notices with subsequent emergency department attendance, hospital admission, delayed discharge, safeguarding referral or transfer to another nursing home; if not, the reason this data is not collected; whether she accepts that this is a signi…

1145. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of residents of nursing homes admitted to emergency departments in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of such admissions by HSE health region, hospital group and age cohort; the primary recorded reasons for admission, including falls, infection, deterioration in physical health, mental health or behavioural distress, medicatio…

1146. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health whether any data is collected on cases in which a nursing home resident, family member, advocate or representative made a complaint or raised concerns about care and was subsequently issued with a discharge notice, notice to terminate a contract of care, or equivalent notice within 90-days; if so, the number of such cases in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to da…

1147. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of referrals or contacts made to HSE safeguarding teams in respect of nursing homes in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of such referrals which related to discharge notices, threatened discharge, or concerns about the manner in which a transfer or discharge was being managed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. […

1152. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of occasions in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026 on which a nursing home sought additional funding, staffing support, clinical support, specialist input or other resources because a resident's care needs had increased; the body to which such requests were made; the number approved, refused or still pending; the average time to decision;…

1153. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of nursing home residents in in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026 whose care needs were deemed by a nursing home to have exceeded the capacity of that nursing home to provide safe care; the number of such cases that resulted in a discharge notice, hospital admission, transfer to another nursing home or referral to the HSE; and if she wil…

1154. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the specialist supports that are available to nursing homes when a resident's care needs increase, including access to geriatric medicine, psychiatry of later life, palliative care, dementia-specific supports, behavioural support, tissue viability nursing, dietetics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and social work; whether access …

1160. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of discharge notices, notices to terminate contracts of care, or equivalent notices issued to residents supported under the nursing homes support scheme compared with residents paying privately in 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34779/26]