Read EOPD.ie Joe Condon’s Letter To The Irish Times On Under 65’s In Nursing Homes
Read EOPD.ie Board Member, Joe Condon’s powerful letter, published in The Irish Times, on Saturday 14th June which outlines the inhumane and unacceptable reality faced by many younger people living with neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s in Ireland and our calls on government to prevent this inhumane and unsustainable practice.
How Many More Under-65s Must Be Placed in Nursing Homes Before Ireland Acts?
By Joe Condon
The recent RTÉ Investigates exposé on Irish nursing homes made for harrowing viewing. But behind the headlines lies an even more invisible reality: the quiet, routine institutionalisation of younger people — including those with conditions like Early Onset Parkinson’s — into facilities designed for people decades older.
I’m not only the co-founder of Early Onset Parkinson’s Disease Ireland, but someone who has lived with Parkinson’s for 13 years. I’ve met too many people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s with neurodegenerative conditions who have been placed in nursing homes simply because there is nowhere else for them to go.
Today in Ireland, 1,249 people under the age of 65 live in nursing homes. One of them is a 47-year-old man in Cork with Early Onset Parkinson’s, surrounded by residents three and four decades older than him. This isn’t because he needs round-the-clock care — it’s because our system has failed to develop any alternative.
This practice isn’t just inappropriate — it’s profoundly damaging. People with conditions like EOPD need tailored supports: physiotherapy, neurological care, and exercise programmes that are critical to slowing disease progression and preserving independence. Most nursing homes are not equipped to offer any of these. Instead, these individuals face isolation, accelerated decline, and the emotional toll of being removed from their peers, their communities, and their sense of self.
The Ombudsman’s 2021 Wasted Lives report exposed the systemic failures driving this crisis. It found that many younger people were placed in nursing homes without full consultation or understanding of the long-term implications, particularly under the Fair Deal scheme. One young man, Francis, was told his stay would be temporary — he’s been there for nine years. Another, Alex, entered a home at 34 after a brain injury. He told investigators: “If I thought it was for life, I would drive my chair off a bridge.”
The 2024 update to Wasted Lives offered no comfort: every month, 32 more people under 65 are admitted to nursing homes — that’s more than one person every day.
We don’t even have accurate data on how many of these people are living with Parkinson’s. Without data, we can’t quantify the problem — let alone solve it.
This must change. We are calling on the government to act now:
- Collect and publish national data on younger people in nursing homes, their diagnoses, and needs;
- Develop age-appropriate, community-based supported living options;
- Create clear pathways to transition out of inappropriate care;
- Reform the Fair Deal scheme to ensure full, informed consent;
- Guarantee access to multidisciplinary care and therapies tailored to younger adults.
This is not just a healthcare issue — it is a human rights issue. These are not statistics. They are teachers, artists, musicians, parents — people with lives worth living.
We must ask ourselves: what kind of care system do we want to be known for? One that hides people away, or one that sees them, values them, and supports them to live with dignity?
It’s time for Ireland to choose.
