Danny Healy-Rae demands: When will Killarney CNU open?

The proposed opening of the new Killarney Community Nursing Home that has been built for over 12 months and there's a lot of frustration in the entire region, the town and all around it with the delay in opening it. Indeed, as I said, it has been built and completed for over 12 months. The lights have been lighting there every night all the winter and the heating on and everything and people are just wondering and to that, Councillor Mara Healy-Ray brought a motion to the ARE meeting a number of days ago and she was supported by her fellow councillors who in their terms each of them have it raised so often as to avoid the delay and what's happening or why isn't it opening and you see there's a conflict of, we'll say, in relation to the proposed staffing of the hospital to require a lot of extra staffing and Dianne Moore, a member of Dianne Moore, have said recently that the HSE had not engaged with them regarding the staffing and in recent days a senior HSE official has said that they're engaging with Dianne Moore every week. Now, some of them are right and some of them are wrong and maybe both of them are wrong and maybe both of them are right but at the same time the hospital hasn't been opened and you see so much is contingent on this hospital opening because the present district hospital in Killarney and St Columbanus Home, they're practically together, the lung shape patients are in Columbanus Home, they have to be moved to the new hospital to make way for a primary care clinic and then 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 respite. Many people didn't get that in our area last year. And then we also have a minor injuries clinic, that's to be in St Columbanus and the respite in the district and the primary care clinic is supposed to be, we don't know where that's going to be yet. So they're all contingent on each other. So I'm asking you here Minister, do you know when the hospital is going to open? Do you know if there's engagement between the unions and the nurses union and the HSE? God almighty, the amount of money that the HSE have gotten in this year's budget alone and you see the worries, they're actually coming out in recent days that there's an embargo on hiring staff in the south west. We're in the south west and I hope this isn't going to hit our hot door hospital opening. And you see, like I said to you, there's ambivalence as to who will make who, but sadly they do need to meet each other and we do need to get the hospital opened. So I'm asking you here to give me an answer, if you can, as to what is happening. I want to thank Deputy Healey-Rae for raising this important matter. Long-term residential care is a crucial part of the overall continuum of care across the country. Our HSE community nursing home units and community hospitals play a vital role in the provision of long-term care and other services. The government is committed to continuing investment in the healthcare infrastructure that supports the highest quality care for our older population. Investment includes community nursing home capital programme, which was launched to ensure up to 90 of our public community nursing units and community hospitals would be refurbished or replaced to ensure the best quality environment for our older people. The public-private partnership past the community nursing unit programme continues to progress with 508 beds in seven facilities across the country. The new community nursing home unit in Killarney is part of the public-private partnership project at PPP and will have a complement of 130 beds pending, providing 50 long-stay beds, 30 dementia specific beds and 50 short-stay beds. The CNU will provide a high quality living environment which will be in line with all regulatory requirements. I wish to advise the Deputy was handed over to HSE by the contract in December 2025 and I accept that's 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 registration of Killarney CNU has been submitted to HCQA and an opening date for new CNU would be fully finalised once HCQA registration has been achieved and this will allow for the opening over the coming weeks. Once HCQA registrations queue, the new unit will open on a phased basis with a planned transfer of residents from St Columbanus and the District Hospital of Givalry reference to the new building. HSE South West has assured me that there is ongoing engagement with residents and the families ahead of transfer. I've taken a particular personal interest myself in the opening of this CNU Deputy. So I've met the HSE on a number of occasions with both the department officials to look to ensure that the Killarney CNU is opened as quickly as possible and there is a process and one of the processes is you have to get it taken over by the HSE which happened in December, an application to HCQA which has happened and once HCQA registration is secured the new unit will open on a phased basis with a planned transfer of residents from St Columbanus and District Hospital to the new building. HSE South West has assured me there is ongoing engagement with residents and their families ahead of transfer. I've requested that that would take place Deputy. All current staff will transfer to the new facility and I've been advised that the recruitment campaign for the additional staff required are well underway to allow for the opening of the additional beds in Killarney CNU. The current two nursing homes have 101 patients and those staff will transfer to the new CNU and there is an additional 29 patients to bring it up to a full complement of 130. Engagement with union representatives at the local level is also ongoing and I want to thank the staff representative for their continued engagement. That is taking place Deputy because I've spoken directly with the HSE on it and I'll be sure that it is taking place. I want to thank the staff representative bodies for their continued engagement. I wish to advise the Deputy that the HSE South West will continue to engage with resident family staff and the wider community on all updates in relation to the opening of the new Killarney CNU. I also wish to inform the HSE South West that it does not envisage that the current delay in opening the new Killarney CNU will have any impact on services and on new developments. HSE South West is currently planning to set up an injury unit in the vacated St. Columbans building to support the existing emergency department in University Hospital Kerry in Tralee. It does not currently foresee any late endorsed planned services. The process to appoint a design team to progress the proposal is currently underway and is expected to conclude in Q2 of this year 2026. The opening community nursing home unit in Killarney is an absolute priority for myself, the Department of Health and the HSE in action, the government. A state-of-the-art CNU will enhance the lives of older people in Killarney and surrounding areas for many years to come to highest quality and social care services. I look forward to seeing it fully operational. 101 beds will open at the start. When will the other 29 beds open? I can see right away that there's a need for staff. If we move all the staff that's there out of Columbanus and out of the district, there'll be a requirement for new staff to go in there. I don't know where the differences in the statements from the I anymore and the senior official in the HSE, but you seem to be adamant that they have been talking. And to be very remiss of me if I didn't mention this here tonight, I want to thank the staff in the district hospital that are there at the minute, the staff that are in the old St Columbanus home, the great care and, you know, attention that they have been giving to the patients in board places back over the years. All the different staff that served there and did so well there. I want to thank each and every one of them. But I am looking forward because there's, like I said to you, there's deep frustration in the total area as to what's wrong or why it didn't open and it has been added to by the story by the HSE that there's an embargo on hiring staff in the southwest for the rest of this year. So that's true, they have come out and said that, Minister, and I hope that that won't hurt us in any way in Killarney because we've waited long enough. We're waiting for the minor injuries clinic so dearly. We've been asking for over 10 years and the primary care clinic and the respite that so many carers deserve. People couldn't go on a week's holidays last summer because they had no one, no place to get their patient, their parent or in some cases a brother and a sister. So I'm asking for special attention now for Killarney because we've waited long enough. Thank you very much. Minister. Thanks very much Deputy Healy-Rae and can I join with you and to commend all the staff in both St. Columbanus and the District Hospital in Killarney who do provide such a great service to the patients that are there. And as I said, the 101 patients will transfer over to the new community nursing home unit. The all current staff will transfer to a new facility and I've been advised that recruitment campaigns for additional staff are well underway to allow for the opening of the additional beds in Killarney. I want to see the nursing, the new community nursing home unit open in Killarney. That's a process, there's an application before HICWA and obviously the way that will work is that the existing residents in the St Columbanus District will transfer to the new nursing home when it's registered and I want to see the additional capacity of 29 beds in the CNU to bring 130 to be in place as quickly as possible. And as I said, it provides 50 long stay beds, 30 dementia specific beds and 50 short stay beds and it's hugely important and it's a priority for myself as Minister for All the People, it's a priority for the Department of Health, the HSE and Government. We get the new state-of-the-art community nursing home unit in Killarney open as quickly as possible and everyone is working actively to that goal with Killarney and I will continue to meet with the HSE, along with the health officials to ensure that it continues to get the priority it deserves and once again, I want to state again that the opening of the new community nursing homes in Killarney is an absolute priority for myself, the Department of Health and the HSE and I'm committed to ensuring that the residents can move into the new homes without delay and it is their home and I think that's something that's very important and once again can I thank the staff representatives for their engagement and this is a collaborative effort and we all want to work to ensure that we get this new nursing home unit, the 130-bed state-of-the-art nursing home unit in Killarney open as quickly as possible. I have a last question. Can some officials of the HSE meet with the councillors from the Killarney electoral area? I can follow up on that request, okay.