Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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242. To ask the Minister for Health the actions he intends to take to support small rural nursing homes to prevent any further closures following his meeting with an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11870/23]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I recognise the important part smaller voluntary and family-run nursing homes play in communities and I remain strongly committed to supporting them in these challenging times.

The Government remains conscious of the financial challenges faced by the Nursing Home sector, particularly in terms of inflationary cost increases. I encourage all eligible providers to avail of the €10m Temporary Inflation Payment Scheme (TIPS) which covers up to 75% of year-on-year energy and heating cost increases in private and voluntary nursing homes up to a monthly cap of €5,250 per month per nursing home over the period of July to December 2022 (up to €31,500 per nursing home for 2022). It has now been agreed that this scheme will be extended to the end of March 2023.

Since the start of the pandemic, private and voluntary nursing homes have received a wide range of non-financial supports, including over €72m in free PPE and oxygen, as well as over €147m of financial support through the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS). It is the intention of the Department that TAPS will also continue into early 2023. The details of this are currently being finalised.

I am currently in discussions with Departmental officials to examine ways in which funding can also continue to be used to provide support, where necessary and appropriate, to those nursing homes who are not scheduled to renegotiate their Deeds of Agreement this year. Other options to support nursing homes are also being explored.

The cost of residential care to the State was approximately €1.4 billion in 2022, including contributions from residents. Budget 2023 saw over €40 million in additional funding for the NHSS which is already providing for an uplift in the maximum prices chargeable by private and voluntary nursing homes, as negotiated.

Funding is 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 Nursing Homes Support Scheme (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 and overall budgetary capacity.

The NTPF carry out this role independently under the NHSS Act 2009. The NTPF has statutory independence, and there is no role for Ministers or the Department of Health in these negotiations. The Department of Health published a review of the NTPF pricing system in June 2021.

Important strands of reform to the nursing home sector are being, or have been, brought forward. The Government remains committed to delivering on the 86 recommendations of COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel, especially those recommendations related to long-term sectoral reform, the five recommendations of the NTPF Review of Pricing System for Long Term Residential Care Facilities and the 16 recommendations of the Strategic Workforce Advisory Group on Home Carers and Nursing Home Health Care Assistants. Work continues within the Department of Health to deliver on all of these recommendations, as well as analysing the outcomes of the Skills Mix and Safe Staffing pilots, all of which will serve to inform future policy-making.