Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I have taken a very quick look at the report. One set of figures relating to 2019 shows that the average cost per patient per week in a public nursing home was €1,616 while the cost in a private nursing home was €992 per week. That is a 62% difference. Someone referred to additional costs being imposed on patients in private nursing homes, but is this not a sizeable disparity between the cost of providing care in a public nursing home compared with a private one? There is a criticism of private nursing homes in terms of additional charges and their low pay rates, but if it is costing €1,616 per week in public nursing homes, is there not an argument to be made that there is significant disparity in the level of support being provided as well as discrimination in real terms?