Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy McDonald, you are very welcome back.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle.

I also wish Barry the very best in his tasks and duties.

As the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment knows, workers and families continue to struggle with an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis and households remain under huge pressure, with massive energy bills, grocery bills and fuel prices increasing once again. At the centre of all this are sky-high housing costs. After 12 years of Fine Gael in government, housing has gone from bad to worse, from crisis to emergency to social disaster. So many people find themselves locked out of having an affordable home. On the Government's watch house prices are through the roof and rip-off rents are at record levels.

There has been no help from the Government for hard-pressed mortgage holders hit by a barrage of interest rate hikes. Last Thursday, the ECB announced its tenth interest rate hike since July of last year. These hikes add thousands of euro to annual to annual mortgage repayments. Many homeowners now pay between €3,000 and €6,000 more per year. These are huge sums and a serious shock for homeowners trying to cope with soaring prices across the board. Last week, I spoke to one stressed-out father of two who told me his mortgage repayments have increased from €800 to €1,200 per month. This individual is from Cork, as it happens. I could feel the pressure in his voice when he told me his family have started to cut back on essentials to try to keep up with the massive hikes.

The situation for tens of thousands of homeowners who had their mortgages sold to vulture funds is arguably an even bigger nightmare. Many of these households have seen their interest rates rise to a whopping 10%. Of course, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil supported the sale of these mortgages and promised affected homeowners at the time that they would be no worse off but the truth is they were thrown to the wolves. As homeowners are crucified by these massive interest rate hikes, the banks enjoy bumper profits.

Families make cutbacks to keep up and the retail banks have clocked up eye-watering profits of €5 billion this year. What has the Government done to alleviate the suffering of fleeced homeowners? Nothing, zilch, zip. Its members have played the part of spectators. They have watched on as more and more families are put under incredible pressure. It is farcical for Fine Gael to claim to back homeownership. Under this Government, it has become harder and harder to by your own home or meet mortgage repayments. It is not backing homeownership for a Government to sit on its hands while homeowners are hit with hike after interest rate hike; that is the plain truth. Tá cabhair ag teastáil ag teaghlaigh lena morgáistí anois. Tá géarghá le gníomhartha chun an chabhair sin a thabhairt dóibh. Tá sé in am tacú le moladh Shinn Féin faoiseamh morgáiste a thabhairt d'úinéirí tí atá ag streachailt. The time for action is now.

Tonight, Sinn Féin is bringing a motion before the Dáil calling for the introduction of a targeted, time-limited mortgage interest relief scheme for hard-pressed homeowners. It is a sensible proposal. It is reasonable and proportionate and it can make a difference. My question to the Minister is simple; will the Government back the motion this evening and will it implement this proposal in next month's budget?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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First, I welcome Mr. Barry Ryan and wish him well with his new role. I also welcome Deputy McDonald back to full health. It is good to have her back.

The Government will not support the Sinn Féin mortgage interest relief motion this evening. The day to make a decision regarding how we respond to mortgage holders who are under serious financial pressure is budget day, and we will do that. The Ministers for Finance and Social Protection have both made it clear that they are looking at ways in which we can support households that are under financial pressure because of ten interest rate increases in a row. Many homes in the country are under significant financial pressure as a result of that. I recognise the sentiment behind what the Deputy is proposing. To provide mortgage interest relief for everybody would be enormously expensive and, therefore, if the Government is going to do something in this space, we want it to be targeted and we want to get money to the families who need financial support the most. We will have a budget in three weeks when the Government will respond to the overall issue.

On the broader question of housing, it is important to say that we are seeing significant numbers of first-time buyers now buying their new homes. We have seen approximately 17,500 first-time buyers purchase homes over the past 12 months out of 50,000 or so homes that have been for sale. That is a significant increase on anything we have seen over the past ten or 15 years. We are seeing significant measures funded by Government to support homeownership whether it is the help-to-buy scheme, local authority home loans, the first-time shared equity scheme or by now providing €50,000 or €70,000 in grant aid to actually get vacant or derelict properties back into use. Many of these measures, by the way, are ones that the Deputy's party voted against as, indeed, did other Opposition parties. The Government is absolutely focused on trying to help people to own their own homes and on delivering approximately 5,500 affordable homes this year, which is significantly more than has been provided for a very long time. Of course, we will also deliver in and around 12,000 social homes this year, which is significantly more than anything we have seen since the 1970s. The total housing budget will be approximately €4.5 billion, which is more than double what it was a few years ago.

We do recognise that we continue to have a housing crisis in Ireland. Many households are under pressure but the Government will continue to respond by delivering more in terms of supply. Housing supply increased last year by 45% on the previous year with 30,000 new homes delivered. I also believe we will surpass the target set for this year before the end of the year. That being said, there is still an awful lot more to do. We will continue to focus as our number one priority in terms of domestic policy and response in government to try to support people who are under pressure for housing reasons, whether it is finding a first home, accessing social housing and affordable housing or trying to get out of the nightmare of homelessness on which the Government will also support families.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister's rhetoric and his bluff on the issue of housing convinces precisely nobody. The idea that he would rate the Government's performance on housing as a reflection of housing being its number one priority is truly terrifying if that is the Minister's idea of the Government's best shot at sorting out a crisis that has now been with us for many years. The targets are wrong to begin with. They are insufficient and are not being met. The Government has no sense or capacity to grasp the scale of this crisis and the pace at which we need a response. That is the truth. This crisis has now touched every corner, every aspect, every class and every part of Irish society. People are suffering now. The glib answer that the Government is doing enough and it was better than last year or the year before or the year before that when the lot of you were still making a hames of it then convinces absolutely nobody.

On the issue of mortgage interest relief, of course it has to be targeted. The scheme has to be time bound. There have been ten individual hikes in ECB interest rates. The Minister needs to tell people now that the Government will intervene. If the Government finds Sinn Féin's scheme is not to its liking, then set out what its scheme will look like, to give mortgage holders a break.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In regard to the Deputy's last point, homeowners have a right to hear what the Government proposes to do in terms of supporting them, particularly those who are under significant financial difficulty because of interest rate hikes. The day to do that will be on budget day in three weeks' time rather than this evening. The Government will do that. In regard to the broader housing question, a lot of self-righteous rhetoric is coming from Deputy McDonald on housing. Her own party's performance in Northern Ireland on social housing is not too impressive. Last year fewer than 1,000 social houses were built in Northern Ireland. The last housing Minister in an Executive was a Sinn Féin housing Minister. Regarding this idea that Sinn Féin has all the answers on housing, look at where it has influence on housing policy and has failed, and continues to fail many people in Northern Ireland. We are setting about the complex task of responding to a growing population where there still are significant housing pressures across a whole range of tenures, from social housing, affordable housing, cost-rental housing, affordable rental or the private housing market. In all of these areas we can only alleviate pressure by increasing supply, which is what we are focusing on doing. We will continue to focus on that and focus most resources on the most vulnerable people. There are far too many homeless individuals and families in Ireland. However, we will continue to focus on ensuring that they get the supports they need while they are homeless but most importantly transition them into social housing as soon as we possibly can by delivering around 12,000 social housing solutions, over 9,000 of which will be new builds this year.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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When is Fine Gael going to be honest with farmers? The Taoiseach is out trying to score a few political points at the expense of the coalition partners but in the process he is misleading farmers and giving them false hope. On Friday we saw the Taoiseach contradict the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine by going over his head and suggesting that the EU decision to reduce the nitrates derogation could be revisited. He was going to write personally to the Commissioner and invite him to Ireland for discussions on the issue. This was after the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, had repeatedly, publicly stated that this will not happen and that it cannot be done. Yesterday the president of the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA, Mr. Tim Cullinan, told "Morning Ireland" that the Minister needed to stop working against the Taoiseach and that he should instead support his Taoiseach. Maybe the Minister can clear up this mess today. At this point the least that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, owes farmers is honesty. After all, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, was the architect of the policy of limitless expansion in the dairy sector that was pursued when he lifted the milk quotas.

At the time he said, "I will not allow a situation where the potential for growth and expansion in agri-food will be compromised by the setting of emissions limits." His policy was not to consider environmental constraints, a policy of “the sky is the limit”. The inevitable consequences were not a concern for him, and now we are feeling all the repercussions of that incredible negligence.

The country had 500 pristine rivers in the 1980s; now, we have just 32. We have a biodiversity crisis, with 91% of protected habitats in poor or inadequate condition. More than 120 native plants and animal species have already gone extinct. Many small farms have become completely unviable. We all know that farmers do not get up in the morning motivated to pollute waters, to release as many emissions as possible. We all know these results are a direct consequence of the Government's policies. They are not a collective decision ever made by farming communities. Now, in just a few months, farmers are expected to reduce their herds, and their incomes, just like that. We have known this was coming for some time and yet there has been no preparation. I think that perhaps worse than pursuing a policy that was destined to fail is continuing to pursue it when it has already failed.

At the very least at this point, farmers deserve honesty; at best, they deserve a plan and stability. We know suggestions that the Commission will revisit the derogation are a charade. Does the Minister accept that – “Yes” or “No”? Does he accept that now is not the time to pretend to fight the inevitable to score political points, but to redirect efforts - of the Taoiseach, the Government and the Department - to helping families through these transitions?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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First, I think the Deputy is misrepresenting the decision to abolish dairy quotas, when that was made as part of a Common Agricultural Policy reform quite a number of years ago. I stand over that decision; it was the right decision at the time and it is the right decision now. Many dairy farms in Ireland were operating in a straitjacket, unable to fulfil their potential in terms of their dairy herds, and the vast majority of dairy farmers who have grown productivity and production since then have done so in a sustainable manner. Some have grown too quickly; that is true. Of course, farmers themselves, and dairy farmers in particular, recognise they have a unique responsibility to protect water quality and watercourses. I would suggest that the Deputy, if she has not done so, although maybe she has, take a look at the water basin project in the Timoleague catchment area to see how it can be done, where water quality is not disimproving and where dairy farms have grown and expanded to their potential.

I believe in sustainability in the context of protecting the environment, ecosystems and water courses but also in financial sustainability for farm families across the country, all 130,000 of them, and the State needs to support them from a policy point of view and from a financial point of view when appropriate. It is true that agriculture, farming and farm families have to respond to our environmental challenges, as other sectors do as well. They are setting about doing that and the Deputy should recognise that in this House rather than constantly pointing at them as the problem. They are doing many things to reduce the impact of farming on the environment, whether it is grassland management, increased clover or reducing chemical fertilisers. It is perhaps noting in this House that the amount of chemical fertiliser used in Ireland reduced by 15% last year and again this year by another estimated 15%. That is, in two years, a 30% reduction in chemical fertilisers and, of course, there has also been a much more targeted application of pesticides and herbicides.

We need to continue on that journey with farmers and work with them on it rather than lecture them about the problems they are causing, and then we may get a more positive response from the farming sector even than has been given already. We have seen, for the first year in many, a reduction in the emissions coming from the agricultural sector over the past 12 months and that is going to accelerate into the future.

We have a Teagasc plan that we know can deliver a 17% to 19% reduction in emissions from the agricultural sector between now and 2030, and we have set a target to get to 25%. Farmers are up for that, despite knowing it is a big challenge. Perhaps the Deputy could maybe recognise what many of her constituents are already doing to protect the environment, rather than focusing solely on the problems. Water course protection is really important and water quality is important. Trends are moving in the wrong direction in certain areas and farming and agriculture need to respond to that but they need to do it with the support of government rather than the criticism.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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The Minister's refusal to answer a straight question with a straight answer speaks volumes. The Minister did inadvertently answer it by saying that he will continue with the same head in the sand approach. I do not particularly want to use up my time replying to it, but the Minister referred to my pointing the finger at farmers when I explicitly said in my opening that no farmer went out with this intention and that it was the direct result of the Minister's policy. This was really reminiscent of what the Minister said when he started this policy- as I had quoted - that he would not allow a situation where we would be compromised by emissions. The Minister is the one who took part in starting this false narrative that somehow the environment and farmers are working against each other, and that when I say we need to make farming more sustainable I am somehow pointing the finger at farmers. This is even though I clearly stated that it really was not the farmers' fault and was a direct consequence of policies. We could be moving towards a situation where subsidies incentivise farmers to practise more sustainable types of farming. It is not all about livestock units to the hectare. The Minister is not talking about solutions. The Minister is talking about-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you Deputy.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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The Minister is talking about pursuing the same failed approach.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy's time is up.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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With respect, subsidies already support farmers in more environmentally sustainable practices. They already do that. This is what Pillar 2 is all about. This is also a big aspect of Pillar 1 payments now. It is about ensuring we get an acceptable benchmark in environmental protections-----

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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What will the Minister do to support farmers in transition?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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What I will not do is let the Deputy try to drive a wedge between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil on this issue. We have-----

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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You did that yourselves. Answer the question.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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We met the leadership-----

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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If Members do not want to hear the answer that is the problem, which says an awful lot.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Would you stop behaving like children and let us get on with the business, please?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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If people want to laugh at the impact that changes in the nitrates derogation is having on farmers, good luck to you. The Irish Farmers Association leadership made a reasonable ask of the Taoiseach last Friday. It said that before any decisions were made by the European Commission, it would like to meet, face to face, in Ireland with the key decision maker on the nitrates derogation. The Taoiseach has said that he will facilitate that meeting and he will, supported by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, who was part of that discussion.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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I will start with a few simple budget-related questions. The Minister's starter, for five points: who said, in March 2017, that Ireland will achieve its target of ending reliance on hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation for long-term accommodation for homeless families by July 2017? That was the Minister, Deputy Coveney. The next question for ten: who said in 2016 that Fine Gael in government would abolish the universal social charge, USC, in that Dáil term? That was the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar. Question No. 3: does the Minister know what a food library is? The Minister can nod or shake his head. A food library? No? The Cork Penny Dinners charity is now rolling out food libraries in schools and crèches across that city. These are mini food banks that include rice, pasta, tins of beans and tins of peas. They are displayed on shelving in discreet areas. Hard-pressed parents can avail of these without having to reveal financial difficulties to teachers and principals. This is in Ireland in 2023, under the Government. What will the budget include for those families? Some of them struggle with mortgages.

There have been ten interest rate increases. For people on trackers and variables, it is like being put on a rack and stretched. The Government should cap mortgage interest rates and make the banks that it privatised cover the costs from their superprofits.

On gas and electricity charges, the ESB, a company owned and controlled by the State, yesterday announced half-yearly profits of more than €600 million. Here is an opportunity to slash gas and electricity prices, not by 15%, not a trim but a major cut, and to tell the ESB it is to operate on a not-for-profit basis and pass the profits on but no, the Government defends those profits and leaves the energy bills sky high.

The Government is a government with no vision. A socialist government, looking at a €65 billion surplus over four years, would spy a real opportunity to put in place transformational change in Irish society, strong public services the likes of which we have never had, free State-run childcare, free public transport, a State construction company to build a big increase in social and affordable housing and a one-tier national health service free at the point of entry, but the Government sides with the millionaires rather than the millions and then squanders the rest of it, sprinkling a bit of dust here, a bit of dust there, on this and on that, trying to buy a few votes and to sneak the next election.

We want a budget for the millions, not for the millionaires. We want real change, not spare change. How can the Minister defend the Government's plans for a status quobudget when the country is crying out for real change?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am not sure what kind of response the Deputy wants there because he asked a whole load of questions and then answered them. Maybe I will just respond to the overall tenor of what the Deputy is saying.

First, the Government more than recognises the pressure that families and homes are under in terms of cost of living increases. We responded in last year's budget and, indeed, had another package at the early part of this year. In total, we committed €12 billion of public money to support vulnerable individuals through social protection supports and, indeed, households in terms of reducing their energy bills and so on. We also have a budget in three weeks' time where the Government will, again, prioritise cost of living pressures and respond to that in terms of once-off payments between now and the end of the year and, of course, ensuring that we spend money appropriately in a way that targets those who need it most next year. Whether that is housing, healthcare, disability, social protection, pensions or supporting people on fixed incomes, the Government has been focusing on all of those things for a number of months in preparation for the upcoming budget. The parameters for that budget were laid out in the summer economic statement by both finance Ministers, and by the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, in particular, and while some are criticising the Government for committing to spend too much money, the Deputy is criticising the Government for not spending enough.

In my view, a socialist government that the Deputy would like to be part of would be a disaster for this country, would result in increased unemployment, a collapse in business and enterprise activity and would reduce and fundamentally undermine the financial resources this country has to support the people the Deputy claims to protect and represent. I hope and am confident that people will be far too wise to believe the kind of false uncosted and unfundable promises that the Deputy proposes here this evening and that he raises on a weekly basis.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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The Government is planning on providing people with less assistance than it did last year. Despite its little spat with the financial advisory council, the Government, the council and the entire bourgeoisie are united in telling people to lower expectations and to prepare for another drop in living standards. Listen to what the Minister for Finance said yesterday.

Here is a final point, while I am at it. Thirteen years ago, a Fianna Fáil finance Minister introduced the hated universal social charge. It should not be called the USC; it should be called the HUSC - because that is what people call it - the hated universal social charge.

Seven years ago the Taoiseach made the pledge that was subsequently broken. I referred to that earlier. Now the Government is talking about cutting it next month. The Minister must read the room, and should read the polls while he is at it. The people do not want it cut. They want it gone; abolished. The income loss to the State could be made up by taxing wealth, something that the Minister and the Government consistently refuse to do. A 10% higher income social charge on individuals earning €90,000 or more per year could make up more than half the lost ground. A socialist government would do it. Over to the Minister, what does he say on the issue?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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We already tax wealth in Ireland. The people who earn the most pay the most. Every year, we have an independent assessment of how progressive the Irish budget is. Every year we compare well with most other European countries in terms of making sure the people who have the least get the most, and the people who have the most pay the most. That progressive approach will continue this year. We also need to recognise that many middle income earners in Ireland also need a break. These are the people who through their taxes pay for everything, and are above virtually every threshold for supports that come from the Government.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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Will the Government abolish the USC?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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That is why we already have reduced USC payments in recent years, and widened tax bands to allow people keep a little more of the money they earn. Since about 2015 or 2016, somebody earning €40,000 per year pays about €3,000 less in tax than they would previously. That is because we want people who work hard to be able to hold on to a little more of their own money, while at the same time ensuring we have a significant tax take that can support the many other areas the Government needs to support, in particular vulnerable people in difficult circumstances.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I welcome back the Minister. I raise with him the critical situation currently being faced by many private and voluntary nursing homes. They provide care for more than 25,000 people in more than 400 locations and provide 80% of all nursing home care. Yet, 31 private and voluntary nursing homes have closed over the past three years with the loss of 915 beds. The crucial issue is that these closures have primarily been located in regional and rural areas. Furthermore, the trend is worsening because 19 of those 31 closures have occurred in the past 12 months. What the figures do not tell us is that many more small to medium-sized nursing homes, many in my own constituency, are hanging on by a thread. We know why this is happening. Report after report from HIQA and others, including the latest one from PwC last February show that private and voluntary nursing homes receive approximately €600 less per resident per week than their HSE counterparts. That is worth repeating - some €600 less per resident per week. If you had a 40 bed facility, that would be about €1.25 million less than a similar HSE facility under the fair deal scheme.

I am telling the Minister that is unsustainable and that is why they are closing. Private and voluntary nursing homes operate under exactly the same criteria and the same regulations as HSE facilities, and rightly so. They provide a level of care that is identical. Will the Government provide an immediate stabilisation fund of €190 million in the next budget to help ensure their short-term viability and help prevent further closures? I also ask that the fair deal rates be reviewed and reset to reflect the real cost of elderly care. Many nursing home owners in my constituency have told me they are under severe financial pressure. I cannot name them, because that would immediately cause huge upset and concern for families, residents and staff.

What I do not want to see is their names being added to the ever-growing list of closures. Will the Government stop dragging its heels and deliver some level of equity and fairness in this sector both for the residents and for the staff who work there?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I have also had a nursing home in my own constituency under an awful lot of pressure. It puts huge strain on families as well when they do not know what the future holds in terms of whether the nursing home is going to stay open.

The Government is conscious of the financial challenges faced by the nursing home sector, especially smaller and voluntary nursing homes. They may not have access to the same economies of scale as larger homes or groups. As the Deputy knows, the Government has provided substantial support to the private and voluntary nursing home sector over the pandemic period. Over €151 million of financial supports have been provided to private and voluntary nursing homes through Covid-19 temporary assistance payments. The provision of free personal protective equipment and oxygen to private nursing homes continues, costing approximately €77 million to date. A new €10 million scheme was established last year to support private and voluntary nursing homes with increased energy costs, covering 75% of year-on-year cost increases up to a monthly cap of €5,250 per nursing home. This scheme was extended for a second time to the end of June 2023 with a further short-term extension under review.

The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has regular interaction with the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, and has met it to discuss ways to support the sector where necessary and appropriate to complement the normal process of negotiating rate increases when contracts are renewed. Anyone who has had a scheduled renegotiation of his or her deed of agreement this year with the NTPF has seen a significant uplift, an average baseline increase in price per bed of between 6% and 7%. From what the Deputy is saying, that is not enough for some nursing homes but it is important to put it on the record. Other options to support nursing homes are also being explored, such as to help with the often costly nature of compliance for nursing homes under the necessary Health Information and Quality Authority regulations.

Ensuring that the welfare and safety of residents is secured when nursing homes close is of course of the utmost importance and work to alleviate the concerns of residents must continue. Fourteen private nursing homes closed last year while nine private nursing homes have closed so far this year. A further two private nursing homes which are currently active have notified closure for this year. Four new centres opened last year and four new centres have already opened in 2023. As of the most recent HIQA report up to the end of June, overall 2022 saw a net addition of 112 registered beds to the total national capacity of private beds, while this year we have seen an increase of about 222 to date. This is due to the relatively large size of the new nursing homes compared to those closing, which have less capacity.

I recognise the point the Deputy is making. For many smaller nursing homes in more rural parts of Ireland, they do not have the economies of scale and cost base that some of the larger nursing homes and groups have. The concern the Deputy is outlining is that this needs to be reflected in the support the Government gives them. I take on board what the Deputy is saying and will certainly raise it with the line Minister. There are different rates applying depending on different circumstances. What the Deputy is suggesting is that the deviation is not wide enough.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank the Minister. He did talk about substantial support but he said it himself, that was pandemic support. It was for Covid only. It did not deal with the systematic inequity in the fair deal system. The Minister talked about a 6% or 7% increase, yet the difference in support between the two types is of the order of 60%. It is not enough. I could not name a nursing home in my own constituency but I can name St. Brendan's nursing home in Mulranny. Its situation is dire and it is now in the public domain. I spoke to my colleague, Dr. Jerry Cowley, who along with people from the local community set up St. Brendan's 25 years ago as a not-for-profit nursing home. They are struggling. They have spent hundreds of thousands bringing the nursing home up to the proper fire regulations and room size regulations, and rightly so. They receive €600 less per resident than the HSE facility nine miles down the road. They provide the same level of care.

When they source staff from abroad, two years later the HSE takes on their staff because it offers them better pay and conditions. They are in impossible situations. I want to know what the Government is going to do for nursing homes like the one in Mulranny. I accept that four new centres have opened, but they will not open in Mulranny and they will not open in smaller regional and rural areas. That is the crucial issue.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy knows, private and most voluntary nursing homes agree the price that they can charge for a fair deal resident with the designated State agency, which is the NTPF. This is not a political negotiation. It is done by a State agency that is there to do that. Maximum prices for individual nursing homes are agreed with the NTPF following negotiations and based on the NTPF's cost criteria such as costs reasonably incurred by the nursing home, local market prices, historical prices that have been paid and overall budgetary capacity. A significant change that the NTPF has recently made to its negotiation process is for nursing home providers to agree a shorter contract duration of 12 months. This aims to ensure that NTPF rate increases stay aligned with any cost pressure increases that occur over the course of the contract period. In other words, I think there is a recognition in the system now that we have had a lot of disruption in terms of costs and a lot of increases that have happened at short notice. This has impacted disproportionately on a lot of smaller nursing homes and the NTPF negotiation process is now trying to respond to that appropriately.