Admissions to three private nursing homes have been suspended by the Health Service Executive, it was confirmed yesterday.
The homes are all in north Dublin and it is understood they are St Margaret's nursing home in St Margaret's, close to Finglas; Bedford House nursing home in Balbriggan, and St Doolagh's Park nursing home in Balgriffin.
The suspension of admissions to two of the homes had been known about for some time but it only emerged yesterday that the HSE had also suspended admissions to St Margaret's nursing home.
The home's owner wrote to relatives of 10 public patients in the facility last Friday stating that they should find alternative accommodation within a month.
Asked about this, the HSE, in a statement, said it had suspended admissions to the home on November 22nd last following inspections.
It would not say what deficiencies had been found.
"The HSE has identified required actions to be taken by the nursing home, and as soon as the required actions are met the HSE is hopeful to be able to resume admissions in the best interests of all concerned," it said.
"The HSE would hope that the registered proprietor would reconsider her decision to request the HSE to remove current contract patients in the best interest of the individual patients and their families," it added.
It also said it had carried out a risk assessment in the home and there was no immediate risk to any resident in the home, which it is continuing to monitor.
When The Irish Timescontacted the home, which has 26 beds, yesterday it was told nobody was available for comment.
The HSE said it had set up a multidisciplinary team to look at finding alternative accommodation for residents.
And it said a HSE staff member would be in the home today "to meet with clients to help allay their anxieties and to work with them towards finding alternative nursing home accommodation".
Inspection reports for the three private nursing homes to which admissions are currently suspended have not been published on the HSE's website despite an earlier pledge by it to quickly publish all inspection reports in this way.
A HSE spokesman said it was expected that the inspection reports of all homes would be on the HSE website by the end of this month.
In a statement yesterday, Age Action Ireland said the lack of information available on the HSE website "once again highlights the lack of transparency which problematic nursing homes are dealt with by the HSE."
In it's statement it said it wanted to see: "Greater transparency regarding standards in all nursing Homes; the right of residents or their guardians to be informed if the HSE are concerned about specific nursing homes [and] clear regulations regarding the minimum standards that would govern all nursing homes, both private and public"