Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

In 2020, the then Minister for Health also made the point that the current model was not fit for purpose. We had two senior people in the middle of Covid saying we had to move away from the model of big nursing homes. I cannot see that the Minister of State has done anything of substance on that. I point to the fact that she continues to allow a situation where nursing home care is incentivised over home care. The promise made six years ago to introduce a statutory right to home care has not yet materialised. What is the Minister of State doing about that issue? What is she doing about expanding the prospect of supported living, which is what most people want, including building new facilities through local authorities with a health element and a care element involved? I cannot see any new initiative on her part. She continues to incentivise the big, commercial, profit-driven nursing homes, which clearly are not in the interests of older people.

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