Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his answer and I welcome his request for a schedule of charges to be provided to potential residents on inquiry rather than at the point of admission. This important element is the crux of the matter.

As spokesperson for older people, I have visited many nursing homes in Waterford city and county and have been impressed by the services offered. However, the core of the issue is the fact the subvention provided by the Government is on average €200 more for public nursing homes than it is for private nursing homes, which may be contributing to the additional costs some residents are incurring.

I was surprised by a recent answer to a parliamentary question that each private nursing home had to negotiate and agree a price for long-term residential care services with the NTPF. It varies from nursing home to nursing home. When the Minister of State meets the NTPF next week, he might suggest that the prices be more standardised.

I was also surprised to learn that a private nursing home had received a subvention of €910 when a public nursing home in the same area had received a subvention of €1,100. Surely one would expect the same level of care in each nursing home and, it would be fair to say, that the costs of subvention would be similar. I appreciate and understand that the subvention would be more in respect of a patient with additional complex needs, but that was not the case in the instance in question. I am delighted to hear that the Minister of State has been working with the steering committee that was established to oversee the review of the pricing system for private long-term residential care facilities. I await that report.

The Minister of State might not have heard me say it, but I am the chair of the Oireachtas all-party group on dementia. We are meeting him in the morning with Senator Kelleher. I look forward to working with the Minister of State.

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