Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 4 Nov 2015

Vol. 895 No. 1

Topical Issue Debate

Public Services Card Provision

Deputy Derek Keating

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this issue. I acknowledge that it was selected a number of weeks ago but neither the Minister nor the Minister of State was available. I appreciate that the Minister of State, Deputy Humphreys, has come in today despite the pressing demands on him.

With the Acting Chairman's indulgence, I intend to speak just once on this occasion. I have some visitors to the audiovisual room today, members of the Irish Cancer Society and the Movember movement, whom I do not want to detain. I am quite sure I am going to be satisfied with the Minister of State's reply and acknowledge his willingness to engage with me on this issue outside the Dáil.

It is difficult to talk about the public services card without referring to social welfare fraud. I acknowledge the role played by the Tánaiste and Minster for Social Protection, her Department, and the Minister of State, Deputy Humphreys, since coming into government in 2011 in dealing with this in a most serious way. Many people, including many in my constituency, had been calling for such action for long years. However, I would contend that there are certain areas that may need to be tweaked or where a little bit of flexibility needs to be displayed. I have received numerous correspondences from people who are caught in situations and, although they are very willing to engage with the Department of Social Protection at every opportunity, sometimes things do not work out. In my view they have been unfairly penalised.

To give one example, I recently heard from a non-consultant hospital doctor who is obliged to spend 12 months in training in HSE hospitals at various locations around the country. In the circumstances this person has had to move house on a number of occasions. Oftentimes junior doctors work long hours and this doctor was not able to meet the appointments that were set up, but has made very serious attempts to contact the officials. I have evidence to show that these attempts include registration of letters and numerous telephone calls. There was great difficulty even in having telephone calls answered. This is a person who, because of their profession, has never availed of social protection payments other than child benefit. I only have time to cite one example today but have numerous others on hand. Without notice, this doctor's child benefit was stopped. The wheels have been turning again to try to get it reinstated.

I raise this example while appreciating all the good that has come out of the public services card and the efforts that have been made by the Tánaiste, her Minister of State and the Department in dealing with social welfare fraud. In certain cases, flexibility needs to be shown to give people assurance that they will not be unfairly penalised in the way this doctor was.

Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection (Deputy Kevin Humphreys)

I thank the Deputy. He is right that the public services card has been a fantastic success in many ways, including in simplifying use of free travel etc. and not just in terms of fraud. It has been very good and is best practice. It was initiated by our predecessors in 2005 and I acknowledge the interdepartmental work done in the very early stages.

The Deputy talks about tweaking it for the exceptions. As he will understand, there are about 1.6 million public services cards in operation. I will confirm that figure with him at another time. In many ways, we have tweaked the system. When a person who receives an invitation to attend a public services card registration meeting is unable to do so due to illness or disability, we settle that and leave it for 12 months for people to recover and their benefits continue. We are looking at other areas such as people with intellectual disabilities and how we can deal with them in a caring manner. We are reviewing how we will deal with our clients in that manner and considering the best practice and process.

The Deputy referred in particular to child benefit. It is a social welfare payment the same as all the others and there is a necessity to ensure that the people claiming it are who they say they are. There needs to be a robust system to ensure we are paying child benefit to those who are eligible for it. I take on board the Deputy's point about tweaking it. If he would like to bring the individual case to my attention I would be happy to deal with it personally.

We have tweaked the system and are continuously doing so. For certain people with illnesses or disabilities who want the public services card, if requested we can now go out and do the meeting in their own homes. The flexibility is being built into the system. We are improving it all the time and I certainly take on board the case the Deputy has pointed out today.

Deputy Derek Keating

If I might add, the issue of change of address should be incorporated with those other changes, including flexibility around illness and disability.

Deputy Kevin Humphreys

If there is a lesson to be learned from the individual case the Deputy has raised we will endeavour to take it on board.

Deputy Derek Keating

I am grateful.

IDA Jobs Data

Deputy Brendan Griffin

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh Ghníomhaigh. I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this matter and the Minister, Deputy Bruton, for being here in person. I know he has a busy schedule today as always.

I am very concerned with figures I obtained recently in respect of the number of people working in IDA-supported companies in the Cork and Kerry region. I am concerned about the breakdown of those figures and the number of such companies in the two counties. It is the largest regional division of the IDA, as I understand, with a population of 666,000, of whom 519,000 are in County Cork and 145,000 in County Kerry. While the population of County Cork is roughly 3.5 times that of County Kerry, the figures for employment in IDA-supported companies are unfortunately very different.

There are over 15 times the number of people employed in IDA companies in Cork than there are in Kerry even though the population in Cork is only three and a half times that of Kerry. There are 12 times more IDA companies in Cork than there are in Kerry. There are 146 IDA-supported companies in Cork employing 28,545 people while there are 12 IDA-supported companies employing 1,874 people in Kerry. Kerry could be doing much better than this. I do not mean to in any way overstate the importance of FDI in our economy but it certainly plays an important role and we cannot ignore it.

To date, the Cork-Kerry collective arrangement has not been working for Kerry. It is not delivering to the level it should be. We need to bring more IDA-supported companies to Kerry. I acknowledge that there has been great progress in the past number of years in terms of the expansion of IDA-supported companies in Kerry. There are over 300 net new jobs in those companies. That compares to major losses in 2008 to 2010 so we are going in the right direction but we could be doing more. I see that Waterford has its own regional office and I think something like that would be very suitable for Kerry.

We have a different arrangement when it comes to investment aid, which is something I have worked on since I entered this House. I thank the Minister for his efforts in putting Kerry on the investment aid map since 1 July 2014. We have different strengths and opportunities to push in the Kerry region that a Kerry office could bring to the fore to bring more industry to the country.

Hopefully, we have put in place measures to improve the fundamentals for Kerry, for example, the N22 Cork-Kerry road. Getting that on the capital plan has been a major step forward and has been one of the greatest socioeconomic developments for the county in many years. We need an office to push Kerry individually. If we had a stand-alone office in Kerry, would we have seen greater progress on the Shannon LNG project in recent years? Would companies like Amann Industries in Kerry, which left in 2010, have stayed a bit longer? Could we have done something differently? The feeling on the ground in Kerry is that we are the poor relation of Cork. When we look at those figures - 12 times the number of IDA-supported companies and 15 times the number of people employed - it certainly gives that notion credence.

I would be interested in hearing the Minister's views. I acknowledge the great progress that has been made in the past number of years in reducing the live register figures in Kerry. When I was first elected, we were heading for 18,000. We are now just over 11,000. At 34.94%, Kerry has seen the highest reduction in live register figures in the country since the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs in February 2012. This is a major achievement but we need to keep it going and increased FDI would help us do that and build for the future.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Deputy Richard Bruton)

I thank Deputy Griffin for raising this issue. As the Deputy knows, under my direction, the enterprise agencies have adopted a very strong regional focus, particularly in the past 12 months. I have worked with local stakeholders in the south west to develop a regional action plan for jobs for the region. This includes very strong ambitions for both Irish-owned and foreign-owned businesses in the region. The plan has set ambitious targets for FDI. They are a 30% to 40% increase in new investments, building an advance technology building in Tralee, building upon Kerry brand development initiatives as a marketing tool overseas, developing a regional Connect Ireland plan that is integrated with the local authorities' plans and activities and establishing a south west skills forum to ensure that the future skill needs of targeted sectors and enterprises are developed by the local institutes of education.

As part of its approach to implementing the regional strategy, the IDA has established a stand-alone regional office for the south west. Previously, the Cork office covered both the south east and the south west. The office in Waterford is an office for the south east. It is not an office specifically for one county.

The Deputy is correct in pointing out that Kerry has a smaller foreign-owned enterprise base than in Cork. However, it has exhibited strong growth in the past four years increasing jobs by 24%. This is in contrast to a 25% decline in the previous three years. I am confident that this strong progress can be maintained. On a proportional basis, this is faster growth than that experienced by most counties. Site visits to Kerry have increased significantly in the past 18 months, which is also a healthy sign. We are in the process of building an advance facility in Kerry.

The marketing of any regional area, including Kerry, for FDI is done through IDA Ireland's network of overseas offices. IDA Ireland actively incentivises and encourages investors to consider a range of potential locations in Ireland, although the ultimate locations selected are always decided by the companies themselves. As the Deputy has recognised, one of the boosts that will help us market Kerry more effectively is the reinstatement of regional aid from 1 July 2014. This allows the State to grant aid at enhanced rates to businesses to support new investment and employment in Ireland's more disadvantaged regions. This is a new element in the armoury of IDA Ireland in promoting the Kerry region.

IDA Ireland promotes Kerry as part of an integrated south west region, along with Cork, with access to the county population base of 145,048. The reality is that we must market ourselves in the context of pretty deep labour market pools across a region. We build a base of regional strengths as a magnet but we have also used the advance facility in Kerry as a way of making sure it does not just focus on the core but that we have other parts of the region providing alternatives. Based on the strengths of the region, IDA Ireland is particularly targeting emerging companies in the ICT, international financial services and global business services sectors. In addition to attracting new foreign direct investment, IDA Ireland continues to work closely with its existing clients in Kerry to encourage them to expand their operations in the county. As the Deputy has recognised, this has been very strong.

The IDA is satisfied that it is delivering a strong service to Kerry as an integral part of the south-west region. IDA Ireland is structured on a NUTS III regional basis - this is the south west as a single region - and there are no plans to change this. I would point out as an aside that, as the Deputy probably knows, the CEO is a Kerry man. In some ways, Kerry has occupied Wilton House as a way of ensuring it gets attention.

Deputy Brendan Griffin

I thank the Minister for his response. I am sure it is helpful having a Kerry man in there. Hopefully, there will be benefits in the future. I welcome the growth in recent years. Turning around the trend that was present between 2008 and 2010 so significantly was a great achievement. It could be argued that we are starting from a lower base but what really stands out is the huge difference between Cork and Kerry. Yes, it is the second largest urban centre in the Republic of Ireland and we must give a weighting to that. However, to have 15 times the number of people working in those companies is too skewed and we need to address that imbalance.

If we cannot establish a dedicated Kerry office, there should be greater emphasis on the county and a renewed effort to bring more to it and to highlight some of the positives that are in it. The Minister rightly referred to the institute of technology which will hopefully soon become a technological university, the technology park and the new advance facility, which is very welcome. However, we can also look at examples at around the county such as the town of Killorglin. I have raised this issue with the Minister previously. Killorglin is a shining example of a rural town that has really shown itself to be a success story. It contains indigenous companies like FEXCO, companies like Temmler and Astellas and smaller companies like Promed and Aqua Design. Liebherr is only a few miles down the road in Fossa. All these companies are operating and providing employment in a rural town that would be seen as peripheral by many but that is showing that one can do business and be very successful. It should be held up as the example to any prospective investor. They should be told to look at what has been done in Killorglin and told that they could go there, be among many other high-achieving companies and do very well. This is an area we need to look at.

The Minister has listened and I thank him for that. I was looking through the archives recently and saw a Topical Issue I raised in 2011 about the need for a regional approach to jobs planning and individual job plans for the regions. The Minister has done this and followed it through, which is a major step forward.

That is highly progressive. It has not been done before. I mentioned the strengths and opportunities in Kerry recently. They are at the heart of what the Minister is doing with the regional jobs plan, which will boost every region.

Shamelessly wearing my constituency hat, I have to say we have not punched high enough in Kerry to bring in foreign direct investment. We need more site visits to try to sell the county more. I hope the regional office for the south west will place a greater emphasis on redressing that imbalance.

Deputy Richard Bruton

The Deputy is right to cite Killorglin as an example because the key to successful regional development is that the region identify competitive strengths it can develop and use to achieve job growth. Kerry is in a very strong position because it has core strength in a range of sectors, as the Deputy has pointed out. It has strength in food, tourism, financial services, engineering, agri-technology, multi-media technology, energy and marine. The key to the regional action plan is developing strategies for each of those sectors to be credibly leveraged and for the institute of technology, IT and other resources, stakeholders and local authorities to come in behind that programme of actions. That is the approach we are taking. Examples such as Killorglin are integrated into a bigger unit which is a magnet for the IDA.

The IDA, however, has to decide how best to market the south west and Kerry in particular. It has made a choice, having the advance facility, of integrating the IT into its effort rather than having stand-alone offices that give the impression of activity but do not deliver the goods on the ground. That is the strategic approach it has adopted. It creates the larger region because that big magnet is necessary to compete for projects. That can be used for spin-offs. For example, Dundalk has leveraged off the success of Dublin to build a strong centre. That model of hubs and spokes is the way to do this successfully.

Deputy Brendan Griffin

Almost half of the people on the live register in Kerry are in Tralee. If we could apply the model that has worked in Killorglin to Tralee, it would augur well for the future. That could be done and would help the situation in Tralee.

Deputy Richard Bruton

The success of this will depend on the collaboration that can be built at local level. That is the key.

National Library

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl

Ar an gcéad dul síos, is dócha gur chóir dom buíochas a ghabháil leis an gCeann Comhairle as ucht an ábhair thábhachtach seo a roghnú. The national cultural institutions are back in the headlines. Professor Diarmaid Ferriter resigned from the board of the National Library in 2012 as a result of his concerns at the pretty swingeing cuts made there. We have reason to be grateful to RTÉ today for exposing the letter which the outgoing board wrote to the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht last July, expressing its deep concern at the library’s inability to fulfil its statutory function of protecting and preserving the nation’s documentary heritage. It made the alarming statement that all of its important collections are deteriorating because they are housed in unsuitable conditions. It needs an additional €500,000 to operate effectively. Not only does it have serious concerns about the unsuitability of the storage spaces in which 75% of the collection is maintained but it is concerned about the lack of fire safety, staffing and its inability to acquire vitally important new documents which should be retained in public ownership. There is a serious problem which Professor Ferriter and the board have signalled to the Minister. Additional investment is needed. I salute the Minister for securing some additional funding for the national cultural institutions last year.

Over the past few years of recession, agencies, individuals and families throughout the country suffered because there was not enough money to go around and there was real suffering and hardship. The cuts imposed on the national cultural institutions, such as the National Library, were disproportionate and indicate a lack of understanding on the part of Government of the vital importance of these institutions to national well-being and their role in our society. For example, the National Library has a collection of something in excess of 5.2 million photographs. Particular care needs to be taken in preserving photographs.

This is the decade of centenaries when we are talking about celebration. It is vitally important that in this period of celebration and commemoration, we ensure these valuable pieces of our heritage are protected and that the other pieces that need to be acquired can be acquired and added to the collection.

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Deputy Heather Humphreys)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The National Library is one of our foremost national cultural institutions. It not only enhances our understanding and appreciation of our nation's history, it helps us tell our story to an international audience. The National Library, which is housed beside us here on Kildare Street, is an increasingly popular attraction for Irish visitors and overseas tourists. I believe this will increase next year, during the centenary of the Easter Rising, as the library holds a collection of fascinating historical material relating to that period.

I am acutely aware of the challenges facing the National Library and, indeed, other cultural institutions, following the significant reduction in resources available to the Exchequer as a result of the economic crisis. These challenges are a legacy of the economic crisis. The catastrophic collapse in the public finances resulted in severe, multi-annual reductions in funding across all of our cultural institutions and across the public sector.

There has been a €30 billion adjustment in Government spending in recent years. There are huge challenges and they are not going to be fixed overnight and will most likely take several years to address. Since my appointment as Minister, less than a year and a half ago, I have managed to stabilise and increase support to our cultural institutions. Thanks to the fact the economy has improved because of the sacrifices of the Irish people, I was in a position to secure an additional €2 million in once-off funding for our national cultural institutions in late 2014, as part of the 2015 Revised Estimates. The funding was aimed at addressing specific issues in several key institutions, including the National Library. This included an increased allocation of €600,000 for the National Library.

While this funding was originally secured on a once-off basis, I was pleased to retain it for 2016. The library will also benefit from additional funding under the Ireland 2016 centenary programme next year when it will play a very important role in our commemorations. The library gives the security of the collection the highest priority and, where incidents have arisen, has brought in appropriate expert advice to assist it.

With regard to staffing and the security of collections, I was also pleased to approve recently a new post in the National Library for a security and facilities manager, which will be key to managing and planning the storage and security of the library's collection.

The overall funding secured in the past two years gives more certainty to the library and will allow it to continue to deliver on its core objectives, including the protection and conservation of its collections. However, it is generally acknowledged that the library holds a significant amount of its collection in a Victorian era building which would not meet modern standards in terms of environmental and other controls. I might add there was no significant capital investment in the building when the country was awash with money. At a time when resources are still scarce, the Government is investing in our cultural institutions. I refute the Deputy's comment that there is a lack of understanding on our part. A €30 million upgrade is under way at the National Gallery of Ireland to restore the Victorian Dargan and Milltown wings.

I know that the library needs further capital investment. These issues have been discussed in the House on numerous occasions in recent years. My Department has been liaising closely with the library on these challenges and I intend to make a positive announcement on its capital needs in the coming week.

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl

Perhaps the Minister of State might make the announcement now, rather than wait for the weekend. It is in this House that such an announcement should be made. I appreciate most of the points she has made and cannot disagree with any of them. However, the outgoing board is stating all of the important collections are deteriorating. If that is happening, it is something that requires immediate action. If the collections are not fire-safe, they require immediate attention. Will the Minister give us an assurance that there will be the required level of attention?

The Minister has rightly said the building on Kildare Street is old, as is this building, and such buildings require ongoing maintenance and capital investment. What is the level of capital investment required to upgrade the building? If the Minister is to make an announcement in the near future, will she refer in it to the total refurbishment of the building?

Reference has been made to an exhibition in 2017 of the work of the late Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, of whom and of whose work we are enormously proud. We want the exhibition to go ahead and are aware that it is going ahead, the Minister having secured commitments from Bank of Ireland in this respect. As media reports state the National Library of Ireland will not be in a position to invest in the exhibition, can the Minister of State put our minds at ease by confirming that extra funding will be forthcoming from the Government?

Deputy Heather Humphreys

The outgoing board wrote to me at the end of its term, at a time of change for the library, with its members' thoughts on the challenges facing the institution. There were, however, also some good things in the letter in which they expressed their appreciation of the interest I had shown in the library since I had taken up office. In turn, I appreciate their efforts in serving on the board for the past five very difficult years. They said it was remarkable, against a backdrop of cuts since 2008 and the public service embargo, that the library had delivered significant initiatives, including the digitisation of the 1916 collection and parish records and increased visitor and public engagement levels, both directly and online. I look forward to working with the new board and its chairman, Mr. Paul Shovlin. I intend to call the first meeting of the new board in the coming weeks. Much of the advice provided for me by the outgoing board was related to the need to put in place a board with a range of suitable skills and backgrounds to oversee the operations and strategic focus of the library. I believe the incoming board will meet that test.

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl

What about protecting the materials?

Deputy Heather Humphreys

I will get to that issue in one minute. My Department has also been working closely with the newly appointed director of the library, Dr. Sandra Collins, to address its needs in terms of resources and investment. By working together we intend to begin to address the most pressing needs of the library in the coming years. The outgoing board stated the building on Kildare Street needed substantial investment and that the Victorian construction gave rise to particular safety concerns as it would not meet modern construction environmental and fire safety standards. I am very aware of these issues which are a priority. The final details of the plan will be announced in due course, but I do not have the figure the Deputy sought.

In respect of the Seamus Heaney exhibition, the Bank of Ireland is making space available to the State for a ten-year period and this will cover the cost of refurbishment. My Department is working with the library on the final cost of the exhibition. It is good that this exhibition of Heaney's work will be made available in a particularly good location in the centre of the city.

HIQA Standards

Deputy Ciara Conway

I know that this is an issue of which the Minister is acutely aware and that over the summer she took the time to visit the facility in Waterford about which I speak. The matter I raise is the need for supportive care homes to be held by HIQA to separate standards from those for a nursing home. Those working in supportive care homes welcome the intervention of HIQA and the opportunity to work alongside that organisation. However, it must be recognised that the model of care is different from that available to people in nursing homes. I have been working on this matter with my colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Ann Phelan, particularly with reference to the Holy Ghost supportive care home in Waterford city. It seems there are more of this type of care facility in the south east than elsewhere in the country. The Holy Ghost supportive care home is an interesting facility. It was established under a royal charter granted by King Henry VIII in 1545 to care for the elderly of Waterford. The buildings are a little younger, but the proud tradition of looking after our older people dates back to those days.

The Holy Ghost supportive care home depends on the HSE for a small amount of section 39 funding and is also supported through fundraising by the people of Waterford city. Any increase in funding would be very welcome, but the main issue is the model of supportive care homes which is very different from that for a nursing home. The aim of the care provided is to reflect a philosophy which encourages independence in a home-like setting. The staff work to meet the individual needs and preferences of the residents and the facility provides the residents with care assistants, as opposed to nurses, and a range of recreational care services in a homely, yet professional manner, with a plethora of activities, from art to bingo to knitting and crafts, yoga, singalongs, music and supervised trips. The level of independence of a resident in a supportive care home is very different from that of someone in a continuum of care who may need to progress to a nursing home.

These facilities are being held up by HIQA to the same, otherwise very welcome and necessary, standards as in a nursing home, but the group is keen to stress that the services it provides are very different. The supportive care home facility encourages independence in persons who are not ready to move into a nursing home. These great facilities have the capacity to decrease costs to the health sector owing to the fact that there is no need for nursing staff to be available, relying as they do on care assistants and a skills mix to look after the people who reside in them.

As I know the Minister of State is acutely aware, many people enter a nursing home too early, at a stage when they could be at home or in a facility such as the Holy Ghost residential home. The supportive care home model is considerably less expensive and more suited to those who need some help but do not need the intensive care provided in a nursing home.

I ask the Minister of State to look at the supportive care homes and address the issues raised, if she can. Let us have them assessed using the correct criteria, standardising the model of care. While this issue may be specific to the south east, the rest of the country may be able to benefit.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Kathleen Lynch)

At the Deputy's request, I visited the facility she mentioned. It is probably a model we should consider for use in the rest of the country as it provides an intermediate piece. We will need to see how these homes fit into the standards we have set for HIQA.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. All long-term residential services for older people must meet the national quality standards for residential care for older people in Ireland. The Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, is the independent authority established under the Health Act 2007 to drive continual improvement and monitor safety and quality in Ireland's health and personal social care services.

In the context of supportive homes, HIQA recognises the necessity for proportionality in how it applies regulatory provisions. The authority has emphasised that all decisions on compliance in the areas of clinical governance, policy development and skill mix are considered with regard to reasonableness, proportionality, fairness and in the context of the service provided.

While the Deputy is referring specifically to supportive homes, I am aware that at a wider level there are concerns about the implications of national standards for residential facilities generally. The Government is committed to ensuring long-term residential services for older people meet the 2009 national quality standards for residential care for older people in Ireland. The standards and the associated national regulations that underpin them encompass issues relevant to the privacy, dignity and respect of residents and seek to support the provision of a physical environment that meets modern day standards and the needs of vulnerable people living in designated services.

The Government's recently published capital plan, Building on Recovery: Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2016-2021, commits to a major multiannual programme of capital investment in public and voluntary provided social care facilities. A total of €300 million in Exchequer funding has been made available, together with further potential to develop projects through public private partnerships. The shortage of public capital funds in recent years due to the economic crisis has meant a number of publicly provided or voluntary services have not met standard 25 of the national quality standards for residential care for older people in Ireland within the previously stated timeframe of 1 July 2015. As a result of the capital plan, it is now possible to set a revised policy and outline a revised timeframe for ensuring all public and voluntary services which are currently non-compliant with standard 25 demonstrate compliance to HIQA.

The revised policy will ensure all services will fully achieve the national standard by the end of the capital plan period in 2021. In the coming weeks the HSE will submit to HIQA its plans, focused at individual service level, to meet the requirements of standard 25. The individual plans will be in line with the revised policy timeframe. They will also detail proposed capital expenditure at each individual centre level. The HSE will also support relevant voluntary providers with which it has service level agreements in submitting individual plans. In addressing this issue of non-compliance by some public services, the Minister and I acknowledge the investment and achievements of the independent sectors in recent years in meeting environmental and other standards. I hope any similar plan for services in the independent sectors will be given consideration by HIQA.

Deputy Ciara Conway

This is very welcome news. In speaking about supportive care homes the Minister of State used the word "proportionality". That is exactly what they are looking for. They want to work in partnership with HIQA and the HSE to ensure this. It is really significant and will be of huge comfort to many older people in public nursing homes and their families. There was a cloud hanging over them in not being compliant with HIQA requirements. It is welcome that the Minister of State has stated €300 million will be made available to ensure all public nursing homes will be compliant. There has been an ongoing campaign by many people in Waterford to ensure St. Patrick's Hospital will continue to look after older people who need that level of care. It will be quality compliant, which is what older citizens deserve. To hear that money is being made available lifts a huge burden from the residents in these public nursing homes and their families. I eagerly await publication of the HSE's plans as to how it will use the €300 million that has been made available.

Deputy Kathleen Lynch

As the Deputy rightly points out, we need to look at the type of regulation we have asked HIQA to implement. It is Government policy and HIQA does it very well. It is usually the last line of defence in looking after very vulnerable people. We need to look at the different types of care available. The care homes in the Deputy's area are delivering a different type of care that is not overly medicated and does not have a medical model attached to it; it is more of a social model. We are going to have to look at how we tweak these things. We have to ensure people are safe and that the service they receive is of a particular standard. Nevertheless, they are different from long-stay nursing homes.

The reason the €300 million for public nursing homes has been mentioned today is that we are close to concluding our talks. There is more to be done in terms of how we are going to manage it in the timeframe of the capital programme. The Deputy has mentioned public nursing homes that are very worried that they are not going to meet registration qualification requirements and, therefore, could be put on notice that they would have to close beds or would not be able to admit more residents. It is very good news for them that we will now have a plan to ensure they will all meet the criteria in order to be registered by HIQA in the timeframe up to 2021. That is genuinely very good news for them. It has taken a lot of work, in which many people have been involved. I am glad that it is bearing fruit and that the plan will be published very shortly.