The Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW), the lead professional body for adult safeguarding in Ireland, is today expressing its profound alarm at a distressing pattern: the displacement of older people from long-term care facilities solely because their care needs have become more complex.
Within the current Irish care landscape—where 80% of residents live in private, for-profit facilities there is an emerging issue of displacement. Residents are being issued notices to quit when their health declines, or complex behaviours emerge often due to advanced dementia or complex physical frailty, moving them from low-dependency clients to resource-intensive high-dependency residents.
A Social, Clinical and Humanitarian Risk
The IASW highlights that these evictions are often carried out under a subjective “needs too great” clause in the standard Contract of Care, which can lack any independent, third-party clinical audit to verify the claim. These displacement notices often provide as little as 28 days to vacate, a timeframe social workers describe as a clinical, social and humanitarian risk.
“For a high-dependency older person, 28 days is an impossible timeframe for a safe and dignified transition,” states Caroline Strong, the COO of the IASW “there is an unseen emotional impact on both the older person and their family trying to support a sudden, unplanned, move to a new facility while navigating new admission procedures. The stress this causes cannot be underestimated”. The trauma of such moves can lead to a deterioration in the persons physical and mental health. Furthermore, this process frequently ignores the “will and preferences” of the individual as mandated by the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015.
State Intervention Is a Moral Imperative
The IASW maintains that these evictions represent a fundamental violation of the human right to a safe home and a failure of the state’s duty to protect its most vulnerable citizens. Consequently, the Association is calling for immediate state intervention to ensure residents can either remain in place with additional support or transition only when clinically appropriate and dignified.
Strategic Recommendations for the State include:
- Reform of the “Fair Deal” (NHSS) Funding Model: The state must adjust funding to provide higher, targeted support for “high-complexity” residents in private care, removing the financial incentive for providers to evict them when their profit margins shrink.
- Legislative Reform of the Health Act 2007: The Act must be amended to provide Security of Tenure. No resident should be evicted for increased needs without an independent clinical audit and a minimum of 90 days’ notice.
- Investment in Public Care Infrastructure: The state must reduce its over-reliance on the private sector and increase investment in public and community-based care like supported housing and plan for a continuum of care. This will provide a public safety net for the most complex cases.
- Access to Specialist Social Work Support: Specialised social work services should be a statutory right for all residents to manage difficult transitions with clinical expertise rather than administrative haste.
Caroline Strong, COO of the IASW asserts that “Adults are safest when they live full lives with autonomy and choice. Every day that reform is delayed, another older person faces the terror of a 28-day countdown to displacement. It is not merely a policy issue; it is a human rights issue and a moral imperative”.
