Nursing home workers stage sit-in protest in demand for compo

UP to 20 former workers at one of the country’s largest private nursing homes have occupied the building and say they’ll stay there until they are compensated by its directors.

Springvalley Nursing Home in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, closed its doors on August 8 with the loss of more than 30 jobs.

Staff were paid statutory redundancy and its 38 patients were moved to other homes in the region.

But disgruntled care assistants along with kitchen, housekeeping and maintenance staff have occupied the 50-bedroom, purpose-built building, which is on the market with a price tag of over €2 million.

The staff protested outside the home for three months last year over pay and conditions. SIPTU shop steward Mary Murphy says they won’t move until they are compensated for losing their jobs.

“We got statutory redundancy but that money was paid by the State, by taxpayers,” she said. “The directors of this home have gotten away without paying yet another bill. We will stick it out here for as long as necessary.”

One of the home’s directors and co-owner of the property, Paul Gahan, said he had no comment to make on the matter and that it was out of his hands. “We were not their last employers. The health board was. They have all been dealt with, as I understand it. This property has been for sale and has been in contract for some time. The matter is being handled by our legal personnel,” he said.

The South-Eastern Health Board said that it entered into a short term agreement with the directors of Springvalley Nursing Home on May 30 under the provisions of Section 9 of the Health (Nursing Home) Act 1990.

The agreement was to provide for the ongoing care of the patients in the nursing home. There was no evidence to suggest that the long-term viability of the nursing home could be guaranteed and it pulled out on August 8.

SIPTU branch secretary for the south east Michael Wall said the union wants the Department of Health to investigate what he described as a bizarre scenario at the home.

“The health board moved in and took over the home. It subsequently walked out and left everyone in the lurch,” he said.

“They effectively walked out the door at 3.30pm on a Friday without even locking the door. Our members were not communicated with.

It’s hard to know if the ongoing protest is a sit-in or a walk out.”

Mr Wall said the affair raises questions about the care for the elderly on a national basis where companies and partnerships running homes go into liquidation.