Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The subvention to private and public services has been covered and I do not want to go back over old topics, but it is difficult to square the situation. In most private homes the subvention is €800 to €1,000 per month. In public homes the figure is €1,400. That is a lot of money and sounds extraordinary. During the by-election a few years ago I visited many private nursing homes. That the residents were receiving less than patients in public homes was one of their complaints. It is a discrepancy in the system. I cannot understand why there is a difference of €300 or €400 per month. It is a lot of money. Why is there such a discrepancy?