Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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53. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which the State will provide the 13,000 extra residential care beds that the Health Service Capacity Review anticipates will be required; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23504/18]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Residential care is provided through a mix of public, private and voluntary provision.  At present the Nursing Homes Support Scheme provides financial support to approximately 23,000 people in long term nursing home care. 

The Capacity Review noted that if key reforms and productivity measures are implemented, 13,000 extra residential care beds will be required by 2031 to meet the demands of our growing and ageing population. 

Public residential care facilities are an essential part of our health infrastructure. There are approximately 5,000 long stay and 2,000 short stay public beds across the country.  The Government is committed to investing in additional capacity and making tangible reforms to our model of healthcare delivery as outlined in the Capacity Review.  Programmes to increase capacity are already underway including the on-going Capital Investment Programme 2016-2021 for Community Nursing Units. The National Development Plan provides for an extra 4,500 additional public short-term and long-term beds over the next 10 years.  

Significant new programmes or projects included in the NDP, including residential beds, reflect the next stage of health sector development. Important policy scoping and planning assessment will need to be carried out, which will involve close co-operation between Hospital Groups, CHOs and local planning authorities where relevant, guided by the appropriate model of care developments.