Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Is the Minister aware that the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, recently indicated her interest in extending so-called tax reliefs for private health facilities? Will the Minister share his view on that proposition with the House? Does he agree with Deputy Harney and her penchant towards pouring more money into the private health sector, while we see the public health sector stumble from crisis to crisis? I am interested in the Minister's position on this issue.

Nursing homes are among the private health facilities that have benefited from property based tax reliefs. Age Action recently reported that some €500 million was poured into the private nursing care facility sector since 1997 with the introduction of these reliefs. Will the Minister confirm that figure? Can he also confirm that the owners of the Leas Cross Nursing Home benefited from this lucrative tax relief? Is he aware that those owners have had a chequered relationship with Revenue? These two points are not unrelated.

Will the Minister take the logical position and agree that there is a strengthened case, because of that experience and those facts, for the provision of public moneys directly into State services as against the current trend of more and more supports for the private sector in terms of health care delivery, be it hospitals or the range of other facilities under which these reliefs can apply? If the Minister will not join me in that view — we have teased out some of this before in terms of PPPs etc. — will he agree that any such tax reliefs earmarked for the private health sector should be conditional on strict adherence to the required standards of care for all residents, clients and attendees at these facilities, whether in terms of day care, short period stay or long-term residential care?

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