Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will follow up Senator Whelan's comments and there was a welcome development yesterday on the matter. The Senator is correct in that the cost went from €560 million or €570 million in 2000 to more than €2 billion by 2010. The good news comes from more recent figures. In the past year or perhaps 2013 - I an awaiting clarification on that - the cost has decreased from €2 billion per annum to €1.8 billion. Every other country in the European Union has also reduced its budget, despite having far lower costs for drugs. We have seen a 10% reduction but it is not enough, so we have much work to do. I agree with Senator Whelan that we need a debate on how to tackle this issue in future.

I wish to raise another matter, which is the major shortage of nurses in nursing homes. I got a note this morning from Nursing Homes Ireland indicating that there is now a requirement for overseas nurses to be used again because we cannot fill posts. In fairness, the HSE is recruiting again, which is a very welcome development that is long overdue. The problem is there are 325 people from overseas waiting to go on adaptation courses to get appropriate training for working in the Irish system. My understanding is there are not sufficient places and these nurses cannot be accommodated, despite the major shortage of trained nurses in nursing homes in both the private and public sector. I raised the issue in 2012. There are nurses specially trained for the maternity, psychiatry and intellectual disability areas but we are not specifically training nurses for elderly care. We need to change the focus and develop a course which accommodates this. I ask for a debate with the Minister on the matter. The elderly population of the country is growing at a phenomenal rate, with 20,000 people per annum reaching 65. It is an urgent matter to be dealt with.