Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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We are concerned that unless nursing homes get some idea about what is going to happen, they will have to close. The responsibility for looking after the people who are now in private nursing homes will then come back to the HSE and the public nursing homes, which may not have capacity. We also have the other problem. For example, I spoke to a person yesterday whose family member has been in a hospital bed for nine months because they cannot get a care facility to take on the person who needs a certain level of care but does not need hospital care. There is a huge cost. The average cost in a hospital is €8,000 per bed per week. We are talking about nine months of that and the problem is still not resolved. The question is about timing and about getting funding out to where people are prepared to provide the care.