Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps we could get a detailed memo from the Department on the current number of claims and the timeframes involved. Such a detailed note might be interesting because a very large amount of money is pending.

I will move onto a totally different issue. In the report the Minister gave us, he spoke about additional beds and so on. However, I notice that €1.46 billion was set aside for the nursing home support scheme and that there is going to be an underspend of €44 million. Is it not the case that, when someone is transferred from a hospital bed to a nursing home bed, the cost to the State is far lower? I am concerned that there is an underspend in respect of nursing homes when a number of nursing homes have closed down because they felt the amount of money they were getting was not sufficient for them to continue in business. Is this an issue that now needs to be reviewed? Nursing homes may be taking in patients or residents who are well able to move around and so on today but, as they get older, they will require a far higher level of support. There is no mechanism through which those nursing homes can get additional financial support. Is it not now time to review that whole process?