Ivor Callely (Fianna Fail)

There is nothing the nursing home proprietors would fear in terms of their accounts but it does not seem to be fair that the private nursing home around the corner is not required to meet the same criteria as the public operator. We have come a long way in the past decade in bringing parity to the provision of these auxiliary services and facilities but this appears to be a step backwards. All I ask the Minister to do is give us some indication that she is listening to what we are saying and that she will provide some level of clarity on this issue before Report Stage. That is not too much to ask. We are simply seeking clarity. An issue arises in this respect. Anybody with a level of understanding of the marketplace would be sensitive to what is being requested from only one sector of the total sector of service and therefore this aspect is causing a slight difficulty for people like myself. All we are asking the Minister to do is discuss this aspect with her officials and the other relevant players to determine if there is any other way to address it. If there is not she might come back on Report Stage and indicate this is the only way but I ask the Minister to try to ensure that the people we will be asking to sign up to this legislation, that is, the private nursing home proprietors, would be happy to have this wording in the legislation. That is important in terms of moving forward.