Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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380. To ask the Minister for Health the date on which staff at a nursing home (details supplied) will receive the Covid recognition payment. [49304/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE and the Department are currently examining progressing the roll-out to the list of 6 non-HSE/non-Section 38 organisation types covered by the Government Decision. This measure will be ring fenced to staff working ordinarily on-site in COVID-19 exposed healthcare environments.

It is hoped that information will be published shortly for those certain non-HSE/Section 38 healthcare employees that are covered by the Government Decision and the process available to their employers to implement this measure for their eligible staff. This shall cover eligible staff in:

1. Private Sector Nursing Homes and Hospices (e.g. Private, Voluntary, Section 39 etc.);

2. Eligible staff working on-site in Section 39 long-term residential care facilities for people with disabilities;

3. Agency roles working in the HSE;

4. Health Care Support Assistants (also known as home help / home care / home support) contracted to the HSE;

5. Members of the Defence Forces redeployed to work in frontline Covid-19 exposed environments in the HSE;

6. Paramedics employed by Dublin Fire Brigade to deliver services on behalf of the HSE.

The above 6 areas only are covered by this Government Decision and all eligible workers will be paid in accordance with the overarching eligibility criteria in place.At this point, the Department is not in a position to assess or comment on individual cases.

Rolling out the payment to eligible employees of those specific non-HSE/Section 38 organisations covered by the government decision is a complex task, particularly as these employees are not normally paid by the public health service, duplicate payments need to be avoided, and there are many organisations to be covered, but this work is being given priority attention.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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381. To ask the Minister for Health if he intends increasing the rate paid to private nursing homes under the nursing home subvention scheme in view of inflation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49316/22]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I am acutely aware of the specific challenges faced by the nursing homes sector related to price inflation and increased energy costs. It is imperative that nursing homes manage potential cost pressures in line with their regulatory and contractual responsibilities, maintaining their quality of care so that residents’ lived experience and comfort is not affected.

The Government has provided substantial supports to the nursing homes sector over the course of the pandemic. The Government has now agreed to extend the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme for nursing homes (TAPS) to the end of the year. As well as continuing to support nursing homes in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak, the scheme will be refocused on addressing this year's inflationary pressures related to energy and heating. Details are being finalised and these will be communicated in the coming days.

Over €144 million has been claimed by nursing homes under the TAPS scheme since its introduction in 2020. Substantial additional supports have also been provided by the HSE in terms of serial testing, PPE, the deployment of specialist teams and other services. Many of these supports continue.

Funding to support people to access services in the sector continues to be provided in line with the long-established statutory mechanisms under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009. This is the mechanism established by the Oireachtas to provide for the processes relating to funding under the NHSS and the negotiation of prices for services for private and voluntary providers with the designated State agency, the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). Maximum prices for individual nursing homes are agreed with the NTPF following negotiations and based on the NTPF’s cost criteria. These criteria include:

- Costs reasonably incurred by the nursing home- Local market prices- Historic prices- Overall budgetary capacity

The NTPF carry out this role independently under the NHSS Act 2009 and there is no role for Ministers or the Department in these negotiations. It should also be noted that the Department continues to work with the NTPF to take forward the recommended actions that emerged from the review of the NTPF pricing system published in June 2021.

In addition, the Department is also taking forward the nine recommendations of the Value for Money Review on Nursing Home costs published last December.