Children do. The HIQA report on inspections is available. As the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, is not here and it is an issue which comes within her remit, I will ask Mr. Barron to respond on that issue.
On Deputy Kelleher's comments in regard to governance and reform, we are in the middle of a reform process. The governance issue is being addressed. We currently have in place a board which I intend to abolish, through legislation by the end of the year. Given the pressure of all the other legislation it was necessary to enact, including the Budget and troika requirements, that legislation has been delayed. However, the memorandum will shortly be brought before Government. As such, it will be early in the new year before the board is abolished. The structure for the new organisations at super structure level will be outlined in the next couple of weeks. That information will be available to everyone.
I heard the Deputy's comments in regard to the VHI on radio this morning and again here today. No one has been dismissing people's concerns. I understand people are concerned, in particular when threatened with a 50% increase. I addressed that issue during the early part of this meeting, in respect of which Deputy Kelleher was not in attendance. I also addressed at some length the community nursing unit issue. In regard to membership of the board, there are some vacancies occurring which will be filled shortly. The Government has decided to advertise and invite expressions of interest for all board positions of this nature. That will happen shortly.
I note Deputy Kelleher's comments in regard to the two-tier system and the dangers of bed designation, which have been taken into consideration. There is a danger that hospitals would feel incentivised to treat more private patients. However, there are a number of levers available to us to mitigate that risk, including better enforcement of the existing consultant contract - which we are doing, planned Croke Park discussions with hospital consultants on a common waiting list for all in-patient, day and diagnostic services in public hospitals and suitable funding incentives. In other words, not allowing the hospital exceed a particular amount of income. This will ensure they cannot retain the private income they create beyond a particular point. These are the types of protections we can put in place.
We fully intend to eliminate the two-tier system through universal insurance and the provision of free GP care. Deputy Kelleher was part of a Government which presided over a two-tier system for 14 years. He was not alone a backbencher but a Minister of State and must take some responsibility for it. It is a bit rich to hear the Deputy say we are not acting quick enough when his party, when in government, had all those years to address it but did not. We will be judged by the people at the end of our term in office, when we will have achieved much of what we set out to achieve, even though we were left with a financial mess which made life extremely hard for people in this country. We have undertaken to address our problems and to do so in conjunction with our partners in Europe and will continue to take that road, in respect of which I believe we are making progress.
On the fair deal, additional funding has been made available this year for nursing home support. This underscores the Government's commitment to support access to quality long-term residential care for our older people. Approximately 4.5%, or 21,000, of older people are in long-term residential care. That figure has risen. A further 862 applications were approved and are awaiting placement. This additional funding should allow 2,600 additional applications to be approved in 2012. We spend €1 billion on long-term residential care for approximately 24,000 to 26,000 people and €125 million on looking after 10,000 people in other settings, and clearly need to examine where money can be best spent in terms of innovations and options that allow people remain at home, thus out of long-term residential care.
I have said previously and say again I am deeply concerned that people are being forced into long-term residential care before they need to go there. When I say "forced" I do not mean someone is standing behind them with a big stick, rather I mean "forced" in the context of a fund of money being identified for long-term care at a time when the same amount of funding, or anything remotely like it, is not available for alternatives. It is a bit like the primary care-secondary care split. If it is €50 to visit the GP but visiting the hospital is free, people will go to the hospital yet the hospital is the most expensive place to go in terms of cost to the State. We are removing that block from primary care by extending the medical card cover through the long-term illness card. We need to find more innovative ways of addressing people's needs to allow them remain at home, including the provision of more home care packages and support, sheltered housing and other facilities, which are prevalent in the south east, where people, despite having their own homes, go to have their meals and sleep at night because they feel safer there. There is some confusion in this regard around HIQA standards, which I would like to clarify. HIQA applies its standards to long-term nursing home care units. There will be new and different standards for other types of facilities, which clearly do not require nursing staff 24-7. We are thinking outside the box in this area.
On the HSE staff expenses issue, this matter was brought up with the board but was not finally accepted by it. My understanding is that there was a difference of opinion, in terms of interpretation, among board members. I welcome that the HSE has found a way to pay its staff. I do not believe keeping one's budget in check should lead to staff not being paid. However, there is another issue concerning messaging. In many cases, in some parts of the country, payments would not be made until 30 December; therefore, delaying them until January would only mean not making them for two or three working days. The supplemental budget we received yesterday will help us with this to a certain extent, as we would only be kicking the can down the road into next year and there would still be a problem with the finances next year.
On the regulation of social services, the Department and HIQA are discussing the issue of the regulation and inspection of a range of social care services for children, people with disabilities and older people. I share the Deputy's concern that some of the most vulnerable persons in society are those with the least protection from an inspectorate. We will address this issue as rapidly as possible.
