Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 June 2025
92. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the steps she has taken to increase investment in public nursing homes and improve regulation of the nursing home sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34747/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis Government is committed to continued investment in healthcare infrastructure which supports the highest quality care for our older population. For those who avail of long-term residential care, it is critical that public investment in this infrastructure is maintained at a level that enables the appropriate standards to be met, and that public residential care capacity is increased in the coming years, in line with projected demand. As part of the overall National Development Plan (NDP) funding, the Health Sector capital allocation is €5.657bn for the period 2021-2025. Health Capital Funding of €1.459bn in 2025 was announced as part of Budget 2025.
Investment includes the ongoing Community Nursing Unit programme, a major capital infrastructure programme which was launched to ensure that up to 90 of our public Community Nursing Units and Community Hospitals would be refurbished or replaced to ensure the best quality environments for our older people, and to meet HIQA standards. The focus of this programme is primarily on ensuring that current bed stock is maintained, rather than providing additional capacity. As of Q4 2024, 51 projects have reached construction completion. Construction is underway on several more facilities, while the remainder are at various stages of review, appraisal, design and tender. The 2025 Capital Plan provided €182.85m for the Community Nursing Unit Programme in 2025.
This Government’s commitment to delivering additional residential care capacity is demonstrated by the allocation of €13.7m in Budget 2024 to staff and operationalise 985 community beds in 2024 as a result of capital projects coming to fruition. A further €4 million was allocated in Budget 2025 to staff and open an additional 615 community beds this year.
The Programme for Government commits to building more public nursing home beds and to provide dementia specific provision in all Community Nursing Units. In this context, the Department of Health, alongside the HSE, is currently developing a new Long-Term Residential Care Additional Capacity Plan which will be published in 2025. This plan will be informed by an update of the 2018 Health Service Capacity Review, currently being undertaken by The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), which will identify future capacity needs in the sector. The ESRI report on Older People’s Care will be published in June 2025.
A series of changes have been made to both primary and secondary legislation over the last three years to strengthen the regulatory framework for nursing homes. This includes:
• The Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Act, 2024 was enacted in July 2024 and amends the 2007 Health Act to give the Chief Inspector of Social Services new powers in relation to enforcement and data collection. This includes a new power to issue compliance notices.
• The Health Act 2007 (Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres for Older People) Regulations 2013 were amended in December 2022 to enhance and streamline complaints processes and to provide residents with a right to access advocacy services.
• These Regulations were further amended in March 2025 to include a range of new requirements aimed at strengthening the current provisions. These changes encompass areas such as visiting, governance, IPC and residents’ rights.
