James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

This scheme was first announced in 2006 and was to be introduced, we were told in 2007, in January 2008. We are now being told it will be published in two weeks. I hope it will be published on this occasion and that we will have a full and proper debate and plenty of time to consider it, as I requested previously. This is a considerable issue for patients and their families.

With regard to the funding for 2008, some €85 million was saved. Was it allocated to the nursing home refund scheme? Where is it now? This is a very important issue for many families. It is not just pertinent to nursing homes but it is having a considerable impact on hospitals. Patients in north Dublin cannot get into Beaumont Hospital because the beds are filled with patients who cannot be discharged.

It is a fact that there are 22 long-stay and rehabilitation beds per 1,000 over-65s nationally. In Dublin North, which has the second highest population of over-65s, there are only three such beds. Some days ago, the Minister and I were in a new modern facility in Balrothery in Balbriggan which has 40 spare beds, yet people are screaming for beds in Beaumont and the Mater. Three weeks ago the Mater had 130 people awaiting discharge and the accident and emergency department had discharged all its patients into the day-care beds such that surgery could not take place.

This issue is real for people, including an 80 year old man who was sent home from Beaumont Hospital last week. Two days later he had a number of falls, culminating in a fall at 11 p.m., and he was found on the floor at 10 a.m. the next day covered in his own faeces. This man worked all his life and paid his taxes, yet this is all we can offer him.

Will the Minister put the funding available for the fair deal scheme in 2008 back into subvention to allow people obtain long-stay care for their loved ones and to take the pressure off hospitals? While we do need more beds, there are beds available as we speak without our having to build new ones. Why can we not avail of them?

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