Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I very much appreciate the work Deputy Butler has done since she became Minister of State regarding making sure funding is available. The current pressure means that nursing homes would like if the Department came forward with proposals at the earliest possible date.

We are discussing the opening of four new nursing homes, but 16 have closed. The major change that is coming is that there are currently 760,000 people aged over 65 years but within eight years that figure will be 1 million, an increase of one-third. If we are using the same comparable, we technically need 40,000 nursing home beds by 2030 if we want to increase the number of places by the same proportion. I am not saying that we necessarily need to go down that road. We also need to ensure we have adequate supports in respect of home care.

I have come across a few families in the past number of weeks where family members have been in public hospitals for over six months, despite the fact that they should be in a nursing home. No nursing home is prepared to take on particular patients. The cost per bed per week in a public hospital is around €7,500 to €8,000. It is something we need to examine. We also need step down facilities within hospital grounds. We have a significant problem with respite care and as a result people stay in hospitals for longer. Step down facilities within the confines of hospital grounds mean that people can leave a hospital bed and enter a step down bed. The cost of running such facilities is lower which means there is a saving to the State. It is something the Department should take on board.

It is important that we try to put in place additional supports for the private sector at the earliest possible date in order to make sure that we do not have any further closures over the next few months.

See this speech in context