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

I will go back to nursing homes, which I raised the last day. I apologise for raising the issue again but from what I am hearing around the country, I am a bit concerned about nursing homes in difficulty. I referred to the underspend last week. Has the figure for 2023 been underestimated? Getting people out of hospital is crucial because the cost savings are huge. Where are we with the review of that given that we seem to have had an underspend of over €40 million in 2022, yet nursing homes are finding it difficult. I heard of one case where the owner of a nursing home is putting in €40,000 per week to keep it afloat. He cannot get any increase in what he is being allowed per patient and cannot hold staff because they are telling him that what he is paying them is not sufficient. In addition, they do not have the same pension rights as they would have if they were employed by the HSE, which would also provide them with far more effective cover in other areas. There has to be a margin there.

The nursing homes have been paying back capital costs. They also have to pay insurance and commercial rates and meet the cost of administering nursing homes whereas any of the public nursing homes have a central administration hub. We are talking about €1,650 or €1,700 per bed per week in a public nursing home, whereas private nursing homes are getting on average between €1,100 and €1,150. Does the amount offered to private nursing homes need to be reviewed for 2023? Seventeen nursing homes have closed and I know of ten that are at risk of closure. I am concerned about that.