Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)

We have seen a rush to establish private nursing homes throughout the country in recent years. This is fuelled by CSO statistics indicating that the figure of approximately 400,000 people over 65 years of age in 1995 is estimated to increase to 700,000 in 2020. The private sector saw an opportunity in this to provide for the needs of those elderly requiring hospital and nursing home care. From a policy perspective, unfortunately, the other side of the coin is that public beds have been decreasing in numbers over the years.

The Minister should decide whether Government policy in this regard is to continue to fund the establishment of nursing homes through tax breaks while simultaneously allowing the provision of public beds to diminish. Is the focus to be on providing private nursing home places with the help of the taxpayer, of which people can avail through the help of subvention and other means? Alternatively, will the Government continue to fund public beds in the manner established in the past?

Another query arises from this which the Minister may not be able to answer today but may do so in due course. In some parts of the country there are significant numbers of publicly funded beds sourced through private nursing homes. In my part of the country and probably in the Minister's part, which come under what was formerly the same health board area, there are virtually no publicly funded beds in private nursing homes. The positions seems to vary greatly from one part of the country to another. In County Donegal there are approximately 200 plus public funded beds in private nursing homes, yet in County Westmeath there are only two and there are none in County Longford. I do not know what the figures are for counties Offaly and Laois, but given that they come under what was formerly the same health board area, I imagine the figures are small.

If I decided to establish ten nursing homes across the country, would the Minister allow me tax breaks to provide them, or would he advise there are enough nursing homes in one area and none in another and that if I wished to avail of a tax break I should establish them in that area where they are needed? What criteria apply to such a tax break? Will the Minister allow bigger units to be established which will eventually snuff out some of the smaller units?

A good model of provision exists in Third World countries which the Minister should consider. Deputy Burton has experience of it having worked there and I have some knowledge of it. When schools were being established in Africa the rule was that a new school could not be established within three miles of an existing school. That requirement ensured a spread in the provision of schools across areas.

Will the Minister allow nursing homes to continue to mushroom? It will soon get to the stage where some will make it non-viable for others to operate. There will also be stretches of the countryside where there will be none available and in those areas it seems to be Government policy to wind down the number of public beds available. Even though the population is growing older and there is an increasing demand for beds, the State is shirking its responsibility in ensuring that a proportionate number of public beds are maintained. It is a policy issue the Minister should address and on which he should respond.

I will have some information on this later as I tabled a question to the Minister on the number of public nursing home beds currently around the country and the number that have been available for a number of years and I am sure the reply to that is in my pigeon hole. The Minister might address those issues. In particular, does he intend to allow those providing nursing homes to continue to avail of tax breaks? Is that scheme open-ended?

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