Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I move recommendation No. 15:

In page 35, lines 30 and 31, to delete "of not less than 20 in-patient beds".

This recommendation relates to tax reliefs on inpatient palliative care beds. The Minister said yesterday that there is a great deal of support for this proposal within the sector. These things always need to be cleared up. There is some concern about the construction of co-located hospitals. In the past, tax relief has been given to people who already have significant assets. One had to have significant property and be earning significant rent before one could avail of tax relief on one's investments. Ordinary punters have been kept away from tax relief schemes which, in effect, are confined to those who are already significantly wealthy. Who is entitled to invest in palliative care units? Is the scheme open to everybody or is it confined to big developers who wish to offset the tax they should be paying against other rental income? Can doctors and nurses, for example, claim tax relief in this manner? As things stand, I suspect that many of these palliative care units will be built adjoining private nursing homes. Will the owners of such homes be able to claim tax relief? We need to ensure there is no diminution of standards of care. It is often difficult to define "long-term" and "palliative" care. We should clarify some of these issues. I assume the Health Information and Quality Authority will be responsible for standards in the palliative care centres. It is very much being left to the HSE. Is this another form of the tax reliefs which were given to nursing homes? Is there much difference between the two types of tax relief?