Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To touch on the temporary inflation payments scheme, TIPS - we have TAPS and we have TIPS - for nursing homes, it has been bandied about that this amounts to €15 per person. This payment was not per person but per nursing home. If any of the Members wants to get out their phones and look at their calculators, this payment is for 433 private nursing homes. They have 18,000 residents and €10 million has been allocated. If everybody were to draw down this funding, then this scheme would actually amount to €13 million. If anybody wants to take out their phone and do the calculation, it will be found that the amount is not €15 per person. I will say no more, but this figure has been bandied about in the public domain for the last two weeks. To be honest, I am disappointed that a scheme brought forward to support private nursing homes facing financial challenges in the context of inflation was torn apart before it even got the chance to start. Some nursing homes, however, have contacted me and welcomed that they will be able to claim €31,500 from 1 July 2022 to the end of December 2022. We will review this situation again. Again, I have a budget to work within and I must try to do my very best in this regard.

Another thing I wish to say is that I was disappointed in Senator Mullen's comment regarding neglect. I do not wish to be associated with any comments regarding neglect. All the people in the nursing homes sector are doing their best. I refer to the work done by the staff during Covid-19, through the most difficult of times. Covid-19 bore down hardest on the nursing home sector. We have an ageing population and this is something we should celebrate. Older people will never be a liability. They are an advantage to us. Their lived experience can never be forgotten. We must do the very best we can in this regard.

This is not a black and white issue. I meet many healthcare workers and I was delighted to adopt the strategic workforce advisory group's recommendations. The three most important of those are: that healthcare workers will receive, as per the next tender, the living wage; they will also receive mileage; and that we will also move to a situation where we can bring staff into the healthcare system from outside the EU. Some 17,000 people have come in on work permits from outside the EU to work in the nursing home sector. I got these figures during the week. I hope there will be a big difference when we do this in respect of home care.

I once again thank everyone. I appreciate that some of the Members sat here throughout the entire 90-minute debate. I again thank the House for giving me the opportunity to address the issue of the nursing home sector.