Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

An amendment to legislation will require a Bill to go through the House. That is new legislation in simple English. Legislation can be big or small.

Everyone welcomed the extra 300 places but there are still over 2,000 people waiting for the scheme. It is not even a drop in the ocean as far as those people are concerned. The Minister of State must address the issue of why she is seeking to privatise the scheme. We know about the differences between the Labour Party and Fine Gael, namely the latter is a privatisation party. I would have thought Labour had a bit more of the common interest and the good of the people at heart. I hope in this review the Minister of State will push for community nursing homes. We have spoken several times about Abbeyleix District Hospital and St. Brigid's Hospital in Shaen, Portlaoise, County Laois. For a small amount of money - a couple of million euro, not €10 million - 70 extra beds could be provided for the scheme which would be far cheaper than going the private route. It would also be far more economical to utilise the staff in those hospitals who are only dealing with respite care to provide services in the public community nursing home sector rather than privatising it.

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