Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his forbearance at the outset. I appreciate that we are here at an unusually late hour after a long day in a long week, but it behoves me to share my concerns with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, about the funding of our nursing homes. Whether we agree with it or not, we are dependent on a network of privately owned nursing homes. My office - and probably the Minister of State's constituency office more than any other - is besieged with calls from families desperate to get loved ones into a nursing home, secure what is now almost elusive respite care or relocate a loved one closer to his or her family and community. Increasingly these calls are fraught. People are increasingly angry and consequently turn to their local representatives. Sometimes it is hard to tell these people what I am about to tell the Minister of State, which is the reality on the ground. Put simply, we have a funding deficit in our nursing homes. We have five excellent care providers in the immediate Longford area, all privately run and owned. We also have the State-run and fully funded St. Joseph's in Longford town.

I know the Minister of State is on record as stating State-run community nursing units provide more complex care for residents and that these receive more money as a consequence. There is no doubt that the level of care at the aforementioned St. Joseph's is exceptional. It has a unique place in the hearts of the people of Longford. The staff are first class. I have never come away from there unimpressed by the care, dedication of the staff and welfare and well-being of the patients. I see care and attention of the same level in the four privately-run nursing homes.

An increasing number of small, local and, in many cases, family-run facilities, typically with 40 to 50 beds, are now leaving in the market. I was especially disappointed to see a recent newspaper report blame their exit on a desire to provide emergency accommodation to Ukrainians instead. The newspaper narrative was that this was much more profitable. However, that is not the reality. It was deeply unfair to several families, many of whom have dedicated two and often three generations to the consummate care of elderly neighbours and friends. The reality is that the family-run facilities were creaking under the pressure of punitive and ever more challenging HIQA standards and rapidly increasingly costs.

I know one of the families who opted to leave the sector. Their decision was far from easy and arrived at only after months of agonising and many sleepless nights. Family and friends tell me of the all-consuming stress and anxiety that overwhelmed the family leading up to the final fateful decision. It was a heartbreaking decision for them. A few months later, free of the pressures, financial stresses and worries, it is as if a weight and terminal pressure has been lifted from them.

I know the Minister of State has worked tirelessly with her ministerial colleagues and recently signed off on additional visas for care staff to come into the nursing homes.

I am aware that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has worked tirelessly with her ministerial colleagues, and has recently signed off on additional visas for care staff to come into nursing homes. However, the reality is that these facilities are now facing an almost daily battle with the HSE for staff. It is often unsavoury and, in the early days of the battle when it was not yet clarified as to whether staff in private nursing homes would get the pandemic bonus, the HSE was bandying this as a carrot in the hope of attracting staff.

I greatly admire the work the Minister of State does and I know she is personally invested in the care and well-being of our older generation. I know how passionately the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, cares for them and how she is striving to look after the men and women who forged one of the most progressive, ambitious and capable nations in a modern Europe. We and their families need to be reassured that there is an unrivalled level of care available to these people. These are the people who taught us, served us in shops, nursed us, and advised us. When we needed them they were there and now they in turn need us more than ever.

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