Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is correct. I commend the Minister and his officials on their ongoing work.

I want to raise the concerns of nursing homes in the Kildare and Laois area. I have raised some of their concerns with the Minister directly. He is aware that they are under huge pressure. The staff are doing great work and showing great dedication in difficult times. From having spoken to nursing home owners and managers in my constituency, I know their main issues are financial and staffing support, and recognition for their staff. The Covid-19 temporary assistance payment scheme has generated some confusion because there is a short period. I know everyone is working under real pressure, the officials in the Department who are putting schemes in place, the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, and the nursing homes. However, we have to have due consideration. I ask the Minister's officials to bear in mind the pressure the nursing homes are under in trying to manage the problems they have as well as the forms they have to fill out. Nursing home staff and management are pretty exhausted now, as everyone else is, and are working to the pin of their collars. While the main form is due in today, I have had a request that forms B and C for the NTPF be simplified as much as possible and be reviewed to ensure they cover the actual cost of the crisis for nursing homes. The costs of the private transitional winter initiative and delayed discharge beds also need to be addressed, as well as those of the empty beds, to ensure their future viability, because while there is the initial crisis here now, there is also the challenge of making sure we have a viable operating nursing home sector in three to six months.

Nursing home providers are worried about the future for their residents and staff. Their hard-working, caring and dedicated staff also need to be recognised and rewarded. In time we would like to find a way of doing that. Many are sacrificing time with their own families to live in and ensure the highest standards. Many of these workers are not on the highest of wages, yet the hours they are doing are pushing them into the higher tax bracket. This comes into the area of finance as well. I would be very supportive of measures to make sure that the people working those long hours are not subject to the higher rate of tax or that some rebate could be given to them, to give them due recognition. They are the front line for the nursing home sector caring for our most vulnerable loved ones in those settings.

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