TRADE UNION Siptu last night confirmed all but one of the 14 former employees of the Rostrevor nursing home in Rathgar, Dublin had received redundancy entitlements, outstanding pay and references following discussions with the home’s owners.
Rostrevor House was permanently closed in the wake of allegations of serious abuse of patients.
Sector organiser Louise O’Reilly said the worker still awaiting payment “was central in bringing allegations of elder abuse at this facility to the attention of the statutory agencies”.
The 14 former employees were owed an average of €4,000 each by the nursing home owners.
In a separate development, Minister for Health James Reilly has said the Health Service Executive will examine how workers at the former nursing home can be assisted in seeking other employment within the health service.
Dr Reilly said yesterday they would look at this from the executive’s perspective and see “if there’s any way we can facilitate people whose visas now are impaired because they were tied to this job, and who are clearly performing in the public interest and clearly performing their jobs very well”.
Siptu had called for the Minister to assist workers in finding alternative work. Speaking to reporters, Dr Reilly said: “It’s something we can examine, certainly.”
Asked about the treatment of the 14 workers, Dr Reilly said: “I am acutely aware that this whole matter may yet come before the courts in a far more serious fashion than is currently the case, and I’m reluctant to say too much on that basis.”
He expressed the Government’s support for whistleblowing legislation to protect those who highlight wrongdoing in public services. Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin was “leading on this and we’ll be supporting him” he said, adding that Minister for Innovation Richard Bruton and Minister for Justice Alan Shatter would also support the legislation through their departments.
They “will be interested to support the whistleblower so that they don’t suffer either in terms of income, in terms of visa or any other attempts at discrimination consequent to their actions if they’re acting in the public good”.
Asked about the staff in difficulty because their visas were connected to their work at Rostrevor House, Dr Reilly said: “We’ll have to look at this from a HSE perspective and see what the relationships are between this nursing home and the HSE.”
Dr Reilly reiterated that breast cancer surgery at Sligo General Hospital was not going to recommence “immediately, but it remains under review”.
He stressed that mammography services would resume in the autumn and pointed to the appointment of two new radiographers. He said the hospital had been confirmed as a choice for a colonoscopy screening centre and the addition of another oncologist specialist consultant.
In the wake of the controversy surrounding local TD and Minister of State for Small Business John Perry’s assurances before the general election about the hospital’s status, Dr Reilly said of the resumption of breast cancer surgery: “I certainly haven’t closed the door on it completely. I want to wait and see how things pan out in the other services, particularly Galway, which is under serious pressure in terms of numbers.”
Asked about the findings of a UN report that Ireland has one of the highest rates for drug-related deaths in Europe, Dr Reilly expressed concern about drug availability, related diseases and shorter life expectancy involved.
The Minister stressed it was necessary to be very active in “educating particularly our younger people about the dangers of ever starting or experimenting with drugs”.
