Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)

Regarding home care, there is the whole issue of long-term planning. For instance, in 2022, there were 28.7 million hours for home care. The prediction is that by 2040, it will be somewhere between 44.9 million and 54.9 million hours. That is a huge change. One of the problems I have at the moment is the total lack of planning for short-stay beds. We are not producing enough of them and it is causing a huge problem in our hospitals. As we speak here tonight, 50% of all people who occupy hospital beds are over 65 years of age. That is why we need immediate action to develop short-stay beds, through either the private sector or the public sector.

The other issue that I would be concerned about is the inappropriate comparison between the services provided in private nursing homes and public nursing homes. There is a huge gap in funding. The average public nursing home bed is costing €1,969 per week. A private nursing home is getting on average €1,220. There is a gap of €750. In addition, the private nursing home has to pay commercial rates, which for an average 50-bed unit would be around €60,000 per annum. It also has to pay public liability insurance, which could vary between €60,000 and €100,000 per annum. The private sector has to pay huge additional costs that public nursing homes do not have to pay. They are also dealing with the cost of erecting nursing homes in the private sector. We need to look at all this and make sure that we put in place a plan that can be delivered in a timely manner.

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