Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Daly, who is a fellow county man of the Senator's, is willing to work with the industry on this important issue to ensure continuity of service in the best interests of residents in nursing homes. I understand the Minister of State had various meetings with stakeholders in the sector and the matter was discussed but, again, this is a matter for the Department of Health to put forward a case to my Department for consideration, similar to what the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has done, which has resulted in a temporary system being put in place. I ask the Senator to pursue that. In undertaking any adjustment in a system, we must take into account the interests of the 225,000 people on the live register in Ireland. There are 17.5 million people unemployed in the European Union as well. We need to strike a balance and not further disadvantage those who are looking for jobs. The nursing homes sector need to provide evidence of efforts to improve skills, maximise the opportunities for unemployed people and address the attraction and retention issues.

If we can prove a case for this, we will take it into consideration. There are many actors involved to ensure that if there is a labour shortage, it is addressed, and it is not just down to other issues such as retention. I thank the Senator again for raising this issue. I will work with him and the Department of Health if there is an application to my Department.