Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I received number of emails recently regarding the severe difficulties being experienced by private nursing homes in recruiting and retaining staff, especially healthcare assistants. This issue is especially acute in small, rural nursing homes. The simple reality is that private nursing homes are not able to match the HSE in the context of pay and benefits, as well as, recently, more aggressive recruitment by the HSE and HSE-funded agencies. This is placing intolerable pressure on private nursing homes.

I am a strong supporter of home care packages and I believe that we need to invest significantly in that model of care. For many different reasons, however, we will continue to need the very important services of the nursing home sector. I am not in the business of trying to increase profits in the sector. My objective is to try to ensure decent wages and proper benefits for staff as well as an accessible, affordable and quality service for those who need it.

I have no ideological bias between private or public care. I want a quality service, fit for purpose, which represents value for money. On the issue of value for money, the Comptroller and Auditor General published a report this year on the fair deal scheme. That report states that the weekly average fee in 2018 for public nursing homes was €1,564, while for private nursing homes, it was €968. As care standards overseen by HIQA are the same in all nursing home settings, this means the staff in private nursing homes bear the brunt when it comes to cost savings because the homes have to make a profit, otherwise they close their doors. This is completely unacceptable. In July 2016, the Tánaiste, then Taoiseach, published the terms of reference for a review of the fair deal scheme. That report remains unpublished. Why is this? Will the Tánaiste publish it now, or will he ask the Minister for Health to do this?

The report from the Comptroller and Auditor General stated the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, which is responsible for the determination of fees under the fair deal scheme on behalf of the State, did not provide his office with a model to inform how the fee is determined under the fair deal. There is no clarity on the models of funding. If the scheme is called "fair deal", it should be a fair deal for all involved - the residents, the nursing homes and the staff who work there.

I have looked at the programme for Government and I am not excited by what I see. What proposals can the Government bring forward to ensure the sustainability of this sector?

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