Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We will move on to correspondence. As previously agreed, items that are not flagged for discussion for this meeting will continue to be dealt with in accordance with the proposed actions that have been circulated. Decisions taken by the committee in respect of correspondence are recorded in the minutes of the committee meetings and published on the committee's webpage.

The first category of correspondence under which members have flagged items for discussion is B - correspondence with Accounting Officers and Ministers, and follow-up from committee meetings. The following items were held over from the last meeting. No. 1819 from Mr. Niall Cody, chair of the Revenue Commissioners, which is dated 23 March, provides information requested by the committee regarding vehicle registration tax and its relationship with EU law.

We agreed to hold over this item to consider it along with the following item, which is a related response from the Department of Finance.

No. R1822 B from Mr. John Hogan, Secretary General, Department of Finance, dated 24 March 2023, provides information requested by the committee regarding vehicle registration tax and its relationship with European Union law. It is proposed to note and publish both of these items of correspondence. Is that agreed? Agreed. Unless any members wish to discuss these items, we will move on.

No. R1824 B from Ms Sorcha Fitzpatrick, chief superintendent, An Garda Síochána, dated 25 March 2023, provides information requested by the committee regarding non-compliant procurement. It is proposed to note and publish this item of correspondence. Is that agreed? Agreed. Deputy Catherine Murphy has requested us to hold over this item for consideration at our next meeting. Is that agreed? Agreed. There is a substantial figure of €15 million for the year relating to non-compliant procurement. We can have a discussion around that at the next meeting.

No. R1825 B from Mr. Darragh O'Loughlin, chief executive, Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, dated 28 March 2023, provides a quarterly update requested by the committee regarding the installation of CCTV cameras. It is proposed to note and publish this item of correspondence. Is that agreed? Agreed. I have flagged this item for discussion. Normally when we raise something, it is because sufficient progress has not been made or because we are looking for further information. This letter from the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, IHRB, is positive in that it is advising the committee that the CCTV installation project is now largely complete. Systems in all 25 racecourse stable yards are now live and operational with CCTV, the last three stables having been done before St. Patrick's Day. Only minor snagging works remain to be completed at a small number of locations. The letter goes on to say that a small bit of building work is going on at some stables and there will be further CCTV upgrades where those additional buildings are added. The letter is fairly detailed. It tells us how many cameras were installed, which is in excess of 500, and it gives details on that. Helpfully, it says that, in his independent review of the IHRB equine anti-doping programme, Dr. Craig Suann concluded that the IHRB programme "does at least match international best practice in most respects and has made significant advances in recent years". It is a positive response which we have sought because this issue dragged on for four or five years and we have been consistently raising it. It is some progress that was pushed by the Committee on Public Accounts. I acknowledge Mr. O'Loughlin's response, as chief executive, and that he has ensured his staff and the IHRB have brought this to fruition. It will be good for horse racing. We note that and publish it. It is welcome and I am very happy with it.

No. R1830 B from Mr. Robert Watt, Secretary General, Department of Health, dated 3 April 2023, provides information requested by the committee regarding the health repayment scheme and the application of additional charges by private nursing homes. It is proposed to note and publish this item of correspondence. Is that agreed? Agreed. I have flagged this item for discussion. This relates to the questions around additional charges that we raised with the Secretary General of the Department of Health. He sets out the basis of how the nursing homes support scheme, NHSS, generally known as the fair deal scheme, works. This is the point of contention. He says costs not covered by NHSS include those individually incurred items such as social activities, newspapers and hairdressing. The letter says that a person's eligibility for other schemes such as the medical card scheme and drugs payment scheme is not affected by participation in the NHSS fair deal scheme. We would accept that the first sentence is fine in that any additional activities or services are not included in the contract and the person pays for them, but the issue, which I think was raised particularly by Deputy Munster, is that there are items that would generally be supplied and available under the medical card scheme which people are being charged for. While Mr. Watt says it is important to state that residents of nursing homes should enjoy the same level of support and access to services for which they were eligible when they lived in their homes, we know they are also being charged for them in some cases. Mr. Watt does say residents under the fair deal scheme should not be charged extra for services which come within the scope of the long-term residential scheme. The Department of Health is currently reviewing the available evidence - I think this committee asked it to do this - and considering the various policy options relating to additional nursing home charges, including services potentially available under the medical card scheme. That is useful. I propose we write to Mr. Watt and ask him to keep us informed of developments and the review being carried out.