Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have been listening intently to what has been said. First, I compliment Mr. Tyndall on his report. I also compliment the HSE and the Department of Health on their presentations and on the information they are providing. I said at the first meeting of this committee there are some things we as politicians and I as a national politician would not be very proud of. Mr. Tyndall put it well when he stated in his presentation "A society should be judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable ...". That is where we are at today. We are discussing an issue the management of which we should not be proud. How we got here is irrelevant. We are here now. We need to make sure we provide the level of care needed and we get people out of the trap of being in a nursing home simply because there is no other solution for them. I welcome that a private scheme is being developed. I am encouraged by that but running a pilot scheme will take some time. We need to give people hope. I note from Mr. Tyndall's report that some of the people he interviewed have passed away in the meantime. For everybody’s sake, we need to make sure we do this as quickly as possible.

The lack of data is concerning regarding the 1,300 people in nursing care settings who are under the age of 65. What is their particular reason for being there? Some people under the age of 65 are in nursing homes because they have an acquired injury. They will go home when adaptations have been carried out in their homes. The cost of these adaptations seem to fall to the local authority, which provide some funding, but what is needed in many cases is far beyond the reach of the local authority housing adaptation grant. If people can be moved back home from a nursing home setting their home setting needs to be of a standard such that they can live a quality of life of which we can be proud.

The statutory home care scheme is being developed and it is important we push on with that. I am sure the reason we have landed here is a lack of resources. I will put my hands up and say it is due to a lack of resources. There are also priorities and sometimes the most vulnerable do not get priority because they are not able to shout the loudest. That is one of the reasons we, as a committee, have the witnesses before us to get a sense from them of what is happening. We need to work with them and there is a mountain of work to be done. We must cut through the red tape. We must also make sure we have the necessary resources and the project managers in place in the hospital groups to make sure this is delivered as quickly as possible. I guess the average cost to the State of the care of a person in a nursing home is €1,000 per week, which in round figures is €50,000 per year. If we can take a certain number of those people from a nursing home setting and put them into a community setting or bring them back home, the €50,000 per person per annum that would be saved should be put into the budget to bring those people forward.

I am struck by the fact that young people are in nursing home settings. I know from my experience that in many cases it is not the appropriate place for them to be. Sadly, in some cases it probably is the only solution but, where possible, we should make sure with respect to anybody who can be in a community setting or in a blended setting between their home and the community that is what we strive to do as quickly as possible.

I have only one question. In next year's budget how much money will be needed for this pilot scheme to become a scheme whereby a great number of people would transition from nursing homes?

I wish Mr. Tyndall well in his retirement. I am sure we may even refer to his valuable experience and passion for what we are talking about after his retirement because we might need his number. I say well done to him and wish him the best of luck and good health in the next phase of his career. How much will this cost? What is the ask in next year's budget for the Minister to be able to say this is meaningful and there will be €3 million this year? Is it €20 million next year? What is the deal?