Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I accept the idea behind the amendment but how do we safeguard patients who might otherwise be caught in the crossfire? If they are in a nursing home, their first choice may well be a public bed, but the reality is that they would be hard-pressed even to get a private one. If they are in such a private nursing home and apply for a subvention, it is difficult to do so successfully and now they may be caught in the middle of a row with the HSE and the tax authorities regarding clearance certificates.

Have we thought through how we ensure the patient does not get caught in the crossfire? I can envisage this becoming problematic. Although the patients pay money to a private nursing home, the nursing home management might blame the tax authorities and say that they have requested a tax clearance certificate but not been given one. The Minister is aware that there can be difficulties with accountancy. It may not be a question for today, but I would hate to see a scenario where patients in a nursing home, despite their paying, do not receive a subvention because of a row over a tax clearance certificate. I appreciate that, in an ideal world, the nursing home should have a tax clearance certificate, and everything should be fine, but I am also aware that the world is not ideal.