Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are 31,500 registered beds with HIQA across the country while there are 22,500 beds that are registered under fair deal. We are running a bit ahead of profile this year. The figure I was given today was that there are 22,613 people under fair deal.

People leave the nursing home sector for myriad reasons.

A HIQA report was published last week. I compliment the authority on the phenomenal work it did over the two years of Covid. It was not able to publish its report for the first year of Covid, but it published a two-year report last week. The report showed that during 2020 and 2021, 30 nursing homes closed in total. Five of them were closed by HIQA. The report sets out all the details of the closures and the clear guidance used. Ten of the nursing homes closed were HSE homes that were repurposed to care for older people for short stays. Of the other 15 nursing homes that closed, a myriad of reasons was given for the closures. Some of the nursing homes closed because they were not compliant with HIQA regulations on 1 January 2022. Other closures were caused by financial issues. Homes also closed for family reasons. For example, it might have been the case that parents ran a nursing home and the younger generation did not want to take it on. Another reason cited for closures was Covid burnout. There is a myriad of reasons nursing homes close. At the same time, one of the issues I have to be conscious of is that 80% of nursing home care is provided by private and voluntary providers. We have really stepped up the amount of money being provided in the past few years. Indeed, the nursing home sector was provided with €145 million in temporary assistance payments, and €70 million has been provided in the past two years for PPE and oxygen, along with €10 million for inflationary costs. The sector also received €1 billion in fees as part of the fair deal scheme. I have a budget that I have to work within, and I am very conscious of that.