Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I endorse everything Deputy Finneran said and welcome the amendment. It is not for property developers — despite the usual phrases thrown around — but for the provision of beds and to encourage benefactors. Deputy Finneran outlined the proposal by the Mayo-Roscommon hospice which has been approved by the HSE. This document will require prior HSE approval; therefore, under this legislation there will be no recurrence of incidences that happened in the private nursing home sector. The conditions the HSE imposes on hospices are rigorous. Everyone who works with the hospice movement knows the standards of care involved.

Deputy Finneran mentioned that 14 hospice beds were being provided in Castlebar and eight in Roscommon. They are being provided simultaneously and lot of work and planning have gone into their provision. Given that the board of management of the Mayo-Roscommon hospice is in charge of both facilities which are being developed together and owing to the unique nature of the combined structure of the hospice movement in both counties, the proposal should be considered as encompassing a 22-bed development. The benefits under this arrangement should be applicable to it.

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