Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The budget is coming into close focus. There is pressure on housing and the budget is approaching. The matter is being actively considered. Meetings are happening as we speak. There will be meetings between the Departments on this issue in the coming weeks. I will not go any further than that. I do not want to pre-empt where this process will conclude. It is difficult to get the balance right.

The third issue raised by the Chairman was the capacity of nursing homes. Currently, 80% of capacity is in private nursing homes and 20% of capacity is in public nursing homes. I would not like to see the proportion of private nursing homes go any higher than 80%. I would not like to see it reach 90% because the private industry would have a hold on the HSE. I am anxious for the HSE develop capacity. New ways are needed as well. It is too simple to say we need to double nursing home capacity to cater for the increasing number of older people. I would prefer a greater focus on alternative models of accommodation, rather than relying on the traditional nursing home model. We would emphasise at all times that we do not want the 80% figure to go any higher than that because if it does, the industry will be able to hold-----