Paul Murphy: Demands Public Ownership After Nursing Home Scandal
Paul Murphy criticised the Primetime Investigates programme for exposing horrific treatment of older people in nursing homes and called for an end to for-profit provision. He argued that cost-cutting, staff shortages and corporate profit motives have produced endemic neglect and urged a return to public ownership.
The Primetime Investigates programme was described as horrifying and difficult to watch, with older people shown being treated without decency, dignity or respect. Paul Murphy said residents were treated "like sacks of meat" and that the footage revealed systemic neglect rather than isolated incidents.
Murphy traced the problem to decades of privatisation, noting that in the 1980s three quarters of nursing homes were publicly owned and operated but now less than a fifth are. He said private, for-profit operators control 74% of nursing home beds and that just 10 investment funds in Ireland control 30% of those beds. He cited CIP2 and the INMO as pointing to privatisation as the root of the scandal and blamed successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments for outsourcing elder care to multinationals.
The speaker criticised state policy that, he said, gave private nursing homes tax relief on capital expenditure and a guaranteed income through Mary Harney's so-called Fair Deal scheme. He stated that total funding through the scheme has ballooned to over 1.2 billion euros a year and that 80% of that goes to private nursing homes, with resident fees described as upwards of 1,200 euros a week.
Murphy detailed additional charges levied on residents and families, saying incontinence wear can cost up to 90 euros extra a month, a hip protector 60 euros a month, and families can be charged 15 euros a week to rent a sensor. He said some providers illegally charge for medication, dressings and pressure-relieving mattresses, and that patients going to hospital face transport and staff charges of up to 45 euros an hour. He highlighted the absence of a legal minimum staff-to-resident ratio, low pay and heavy workloads for carers, and argued that stronger regulation is needed but not sufficient.
While acknowledging the need for better regulation and safeguarding legislation, Paul Murphy concluded that the problem is endemic to a for-profit system and called for an end to privatisation and the return of nursing home provision to public ownership.
Allegations from television exposé
The Primetime Investigates programme was described as horrifying and difficult to watch, with older people shown being treated without decency, dignity or respect. Paul Murphy said residents were treated "like sacks of meat" and that the footage revealed systemic neglect rather than isolated incidents.
Scale of privatisation and ownership
Murphy traced the problem to decades of privatisation, noting that in the 1980s three quarters of nursing homes were publicly owned and operated but now less than a fifth are. He said private, for-profit operators control 74% of nursing home beds and that just 10 investment funds in Ireland control 30% of those beds. He cited CIP2 and the INMO as pointing to privatisation as the root of the scandal and blamed successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments for outsourcing elder care to multinationals.
Public funding and the Fair Deal
The speaker criticised state policy that, he said, gave private nursing homes tax relief on capital expenditure and a guaranteed income through Mary Harney's so-called Fair Deal scheme. He stated that total funding through the scheme has ballooned to over 1.2 billion euros a year and that 80% of that goes to private nursing homes, with resident fees described as upwards of 1,200 euros a week.
Charges, staffing and regulation
Murphy detailed additional charges levied on residents and families, saying incontinence wear can cost up to 90 euros extra a month, a hip protector 60 euros a month, and families can be charged 15 euros a week to rent a sensor. He said some providers illegally charge for medication, dressings and pressure-relieving mattresses, and that patients going to hospital face transport and staff charges of up to 45 euros an hour. He highlighted the absence of a legal minimum staff-to-resident ratio, low pay and heavy workloads for carers, and argued that stronger regulation is needed but not sufficient.
Call for public ownership
While acknowledging the need for better regulation and safeguarding legislation, Paul Murphy concluded that the problem is endemic to a for-profit system and called for an end to privatisation and the return of nursing home provision to public ownership.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Other speeches
Tego samego dnia All speeches from this day →
Richard O'Donoghue
Richard O'Donoghue: 32 counties stance and votes for emigrant Irish
Brian Stanley
Brian Stanley warns over rise in private nursing homes
Martin Daly
Martin Daly urges probe into Banisloe's deep social deprivation
Rose Conway-Walsh
Rose Conway-Walsh confronts nursing home neglect and care commodification
Mattie McGrath
Mattie McGrath criticises HICWA and Tuthla over care failures
Brian Stanley
Brian Stanley: Warns of GP Shortage and Pressure on A&E
Transcript
I found the Primetime Investigates program horrifying, obviously, very difficult to watch. It was clear that these older people were not being treated as human beings with decency, with dignity, with respect. Instead, many were being treated simply as a burden, a burden for whom there weren't enough gloves, there weren't enough incontinence pads, they're treated like sacks of meat, effectively, throwing on the chair as that one man was done. What was clear as well, though, is that this was not unprecedented or not really unexpected. Cost-cutting, staff shortages, elder abuse, ripping off vulnerable people, all of that is inevitable when you hand over healthcare to faceless multinationals motivated only by profit. CIP2 alone, the INMO, have all pointed to privatisation as being at the root of this scandal, which means the root is neoliberal government policy carried out by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments to outsource our care of older people to multinational corporations. In the 1980s, three quarters of nursing homes were publicly owned and operated. Now it's less than a fifth. Private, for-profit operators control 74% of nursing home beds. Just 10 investment funds in Ireland control 30% of our nursing home beds. This didn't happen by accident. This isn't something that unfortunately happened, that me, all Martin and so on, is very sad about. It was deliberate government policy. As with private hospitals, the state provided private nursing homes with massive tax relief on capital expenditure and guaranteed them income stream through Mary Harney's so-called Fair Deal scheme. Income for private nursing homes through Fair Deal has ballooned. Total funding is now over 1.2 billion euros a year. 80% of that is going to private nursing homes. The fees are incredible. At the residents' port leash, they're upwards of 1,200 euros a week. But not satisfied with that, the abusive, money-grabbing multinational EMIS, which runs the residents, has also been ripping off elderly people and their families by illegally charging extra for essentials, like medication, dressings and pressure-relieving mattresses to prevent bed sores. Incontinence wear costs up to 90 euros extra a month. A hip protector, 60 euros a month. If residents go to hospital, they have to pay for their own transport, plus a staff charge of up to 45 euros an hour. How much of that do the carers see? Maybe a third, maybe a half. The rest going to the largest nursing home provider in the state. Families are charged 15 euros a week if they want to rent a sensor that alerts them if a patient falls out of a bed or a chair. Given the gross understaffing at residents, it looks like they would need it. Incredibly, there is no legal minimum staff-to-resident ratios for nursing homes. Presumably, the private providers lobby to keep it that way because wages are their main cost. That's why nursing home carers are among the lowest paid and most overworked group of workers in the country. That's how much this government and Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael value older people. Stock response is to say that better regulation is needed. Yes, absolutely. For years, care champions and others have been screaming about this, have been pushing for safeguarding legislation. We need, this scandal should force the government to act. But ultimately, we're not just talking about a few bad apples. This neglect, this abuse is endemic in a system that is based on for-profit. We have to end the privatisation, bring it back into public ownership. Thank you.