Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

——think it through in a careful manner. There cannot be a knee-jerk reaction every time something happens. This nursing home is one of a few bad apples but, as I pointed out, there are excellent nursing home facilities doing a wonderful job.

Nursing home developments receive significant tax breaks from the State. I am in favour of this approach, particularly given that we have an aging population. There is a great need for more facilities, especially modern facilities. Developers and management of nursing homes should be mindful of the benefits they receive from taxpayers. These facilities should be run in a manner that is acceptable to all. Mismanagement and mistreatment of patients should be dealt with severely. We should consider the withdrawal of tax breaks when a nursing home is run in the despicable manner which we recently witnessed on the RTE documentary. Benefits should be withdrawn. No more than taking money from patients' relatives, this would amount to some type of fraud. I would not be in favour of allowing people such generous tax breaks if they were found guilty of wrongdoing.

I am delighted the Minister of State referred in his speech to the issues currently being debated and discussed. As members of the National Economic and Social Forum, Senator Kate Walsh and I sit on a sub-committee which was set up to look after services for the elderly. We have looked at nursing homes, long-stay care for patients and acute hospitals. A high proportion of patients are being left in acute hospitals. I am delighted that the Slán Abhaile programme is providing for a significant number of those people to be sent home with grants and other supports to allow for care in the community. It is clear that people would prefer to stay at home to access care. We should put whatever financial resources that are available into keeping people at home. Everybody would benefit from that, not only older people but the children who will have their grandparent or other older relative around while they are growing up, which is a great benefit.

I thought this debate was on the nursing home issue and I confined my remarks to this area. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children is just finishing a six to seven week examination of the Travers report on which it will publish a report next week. I say to Opposition Senators that if they had read——