Mr. Bernard Gloster:

Ms Broderick will speak and the general issue of staffing ratios in public beds. They are different from private and there is no point in saying any differently. As I have explained previously, there are differences in pay, in standards and in the dependency levels of a lot of residents. I know this is disputed by the private nursing home providers but there is substantial evidence on dependency levels and public units.

The issue Deputy Burke raised with me regarding Laois was at the Committee of Public Accounts. It is with regard to a nursing home in Abbeyleix. I went to visit it on the back of Deputy Burke raising the issue and on the request of the Cathaoirleach of the Committee of Public Accounts. It is an outlier at this stage. There is one resident there on the fair deal scheme and the other beds are respite, short-term and step-down beds and there is very active use of them. This distorts the cost of care. I met the resident, who has been there for 20 years. It is her home and we will continue to honour this. The future of the facility is to add more capacity. There is now a step-down unit there for Portlaoise hospital which is separate to the community nursing units. They are both in the same building, which is very dynamic. It is an outlier with regard to measuring the cost of care and I would not rely on it.

With regard to general public bed use and occupancy-----