Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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Mr. Healy knows which nursing home is the most expensive and it is Abbeyleix. Most nursing homes cost between €1,000 and €1,800 per week per resident, with a couple of them costing more than €2,000. In my home county, however, the facility in Abbeyleix costs €4,082 per patient per week and St. Brigid's nursing home, Shaen, €2,584. The witnesses are no doubt aware that the costs in these two facilities are utterly out of sync with those of the others. The cases in St. Brigid's nursing home are more complex in nature. Some years ago, the HSE announced it was closing the Abbeyleix facility but was prevented from doing so by some of the patients who were found by the courts to have a right to stay in the home. The number of long-term patients has since declined from more than 30 to perhaps three or four. I am aware that the HSE also provides some respite care services at the facility. Will Mr. Healy explain the reason the weekly cost of care in one nursing home is almost four times higher than in almost all other nursing homes?