Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I want to know what the position is now.

If the board does what the Minister asks in appeal, it will enter next year running a deficit, which directors of an organisation are precluded from doing. My understanding is that a letter issued to the Minister yesterday, which I presume he will receive at some point today, laying out the board's inability to do that. The board will meet tomorrow week, or in eight days, to consider whether it can keep the facility open. If there is no movement, the board may feel it has no choice but to withdraw from the deed of agreement with the NTPF. That would mean that from 1 January there would be no fair deal funding for the fair deal residents in the facility. While St. Joseph's would endeavour to keep the residents there for as long as possible, the reserves of the St. John of God organisation are gone and ultimately the residents would have to leave. The situation is extremely urgent. The Minister has repeatedly promised that what is about to happen should there be no intervention will not happen.

I ask the Minister to consider the following two solutions. A block grant needs to be provided for one to two years, or for an appropriate timeframe, to cover the gap between the NTPF amount, which is approximately €1,350, and the run-rate, which is approximately €1,750. The NTPF fair deal scheme is under review. St. Joseph's, the staff, residents and their families need to be given time in the context of that review. Option one is the provision of a grant from the HSE or the Department of Health that bridges the gap until a new NTPF rate is agreed as part of a new NTPF strategy. Option two, which St. Joseph's is open to, is that the HSE takes over the beds as section 39 beds. The urgency of this matter cannot be overstated given that the board is meeting in eight days. Are either of those two options viable and could movement be achieved in the next eight days?