Seanad debates

Wednesday, 24 June 2009

Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages

 

12:00 pm

Photo of Liam TwomeyLiam Twomey (Fine Gael)

On Second Stage I asked what would happen with public nursing homes given that they are on average twice the cost of private nursing homes. This is often because they provide an additional range of services, including physiotherapy and occupational therapy, and have more staff. There are also wage agreements with the HSE that might not necessarily apply to people working in the private sector. Will public nursing homes continue to receive a subsidy? A person who gets into a public nursing home gets a better service and is treated somewhat differently from someone who is deemed just to be appropriate for a private nursing home, which is more cost effective and towards which, therefore, the HSE would be pushing patients.

On Second Stage I asked whether there have been significant negotiations with the HSE and the staff working in public facilities. The Minister of State chose not to answer those questions at that time. I will ask those questions again and this time I focus completely on the cost difference between public nursing homes and private nursing homes. It has nothing to do with the varying costs between different private nursing homes.

When does the Minister of State expect the legislation to be enacted into law? Can I tell people that as of 1 September this is what the agreement will be? When commenting on the differences with public nursing homes and how they will be affected, I would like to know how the Minister of State, who has responsibility for the elderly, views the legislation. We have been told it is resource dependent, so it will have a fixed budget. What will happen when there is insufficient money? Will standards drop or will charges go up? Surely the Minister of State discussed that within the Department before this legislation was introduced.

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