Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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68. To ask the Minister for Health if he is satisfied that all public nursing homes will meet the Health Information and Quality Authority standards for physical environment regulations and standards by July 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2407/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The Government is committed to the provision of a quality public nursing home service underpinned by a regulatory system of registration and inspection, and the Department of Health, in collaboration with the HSE, is considering how this can best be achieved within the funding that is available.

Since 2009 all nursing homes - public, voluntary and private - have been registered and inspected by the Health Information and Quality Authority. Registration renewals for the majority of public nursing homes are due from the middle of this year. Bearing in mind their age and structure, public nursing homes face real challenges and require investment in excess of the funding that will be available in the short to medium term.

It is important that we do everything possible to apply appropriate standards to all facilities. It is also important to recognise that publicly-run facilities provide bed capacity which is critically needed by older people, particularly by those with high or complex care needs for whom public facilities are often the only place that can meet their needs. Notwithstanding the problems that some facilities face with structures and facilities, the vast majority of their residents receive excellent levels of care. Without these public facilities many older people would simply have nowhere to go, other than our acute hospitals which are already under pressure.

Discussions have already taken place and are ongoing between the HSE and HIQA on the issues that arise for facilities around the country.