Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a brief observation as well for Ms Cowan regarding the high cost of living and the affordability of homes. I do not believe there was the same trouble recruiting at the height of the property bubble. There is more at play than simply the cost of living. I believe it is the conditions in which the nurses and every other grade are working that are contributing to making the HSE an unattractive place for people to work. That is the observation.

I had to return to my office to do some work and I was contacted by somebody from Roscommon who was watching these proceedings. The person is obviously very interested in the capacity issue because there are currently 12 people affected by a closed nursing home. He referred to delayed discharges. Obviously, opening beds and step-down and care of the elderly beds in the community is central to dealing with the delayed discharges problem. I will put to the witnesses the question that was put to me. Is it not somewhat counter-intuitive to close nursing home beds, as is happening in the case of the Rosalie unit in Castlerea? The HSE is closing beds on one hand while on the other, it is complaining, rightly, about delayed discharges. Nobody wants to have delayed discharges and we certainly do not like using the terminology that was used previously to describe those people. The person asked me whether there is a plan for those 12 people in the first instance. Also, how does one square that with what is now being called the capacity dialogue? It used to be the capacity piece. It was the piece and now it is the dialogue. How does the capacity dialogue in which we are all so enthusiastically and energetically engaged fit with saying on the one hand that we need to increase capacity, which we all recognise is true, and on the other, we are closing down the very beds those people should be able to access? It appears to be counter-intuitive.

Thank you, Chairman, for allowing me to speak again. I had not intended to return to the committee but I was contacted by the person from Roscommon.