Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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235. To ask the Minister for Health if he will advise on the average cost per bed in nursing homes; the overall number of beds, both private and public; how this compares internationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29542/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The average weighted cost of care in a private nursing home under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme at the end of 2014 was €893. The average weighted cost of care in a public facility is €1,390. It is true that costs for public nursing homes are higher than in the private sector and vary considerably even within the public system. There are valid factors for a difference, in that more complex and highly dependent residents are often catered for by the public system, and conditions of employment and tenure etc. are different too.

It is, however, important that public facilities operate as efficiently and economically as possible and towards that end, the HSE is already engaged in a comprehensive exercise to review and streamline the operation and cost structures of public facilities. The Department of Health will also be conducting a Value for Money Review of public nursing home costs to identify more fully the factors that may be increasing costs and any areas that require correction.

Long-term nursing home care is provided through a mix of public and private nursing homes, with the public sector accounting for approximately 20% of all beds. At the end of 21014, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) estimated that there were approximately 29,000 long stay beds in a total of 565 designated centres. It is anticipated that almost 24,000 people will be in receipt of support under the Nursing Home Support Scheme by the end of 2015.

The proportion of older people in residential care is a constantly changing one, and international comparison can be quite problematic because of differences in models of care and in definition of what constitutes long term residential care etc. However, in Ireland we generally have somewhere between 4% and 4.5% of those aged over 65 in residential care, and this is about average for other countries in the OECD.

Notwithstanding this, I would hope to reduce this number further, as older people generally prefer to stay in their own homes and communities for as long as they can. The Review of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, as well as considering the historical and future operation of the Scheme itself, will consider how community and other services should be developed in order to facilitate more older people to stay at home for longer, and towards this end it identifies the services that should be prioritised into the future as resources allow.