Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I encourage continued engagement between the nursing home providers and the NTPF to try to resolve this issue. I really mean that. Primary responsibility for the provision of safe care and services to residents in long-term residential care facilities rests with each individual care provider. The 2013 regulations set out clear obligations on a registered provider to agree in writing with a resident the terms upon which the resident resides in the designated centre, the services to be provided and the costs involved. It is imperative that nursing homes manage potential cost pressures in line with their regulatory and contractual responsibilities, maintaining the quality of care so that residents’ lived experience and comfort are not affected. Many of the families have contacted me. I know the upset this has caused for the residents, for whom it is their home from home, and the families involved. The only way forward is for consultation. If a nursing home wishes to remain as an NTPF nursing home, it must engage with the NTPF. There is no other funding mechanism available to nursing homes outside of that scheme.

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