Documents submitted to PAC say officials discussed ‘critical issues ’ with Fair Deal scheme

Whistleblower documents: A conversation between the officials describes how there are two and a half times as many nurses in public nursing homes compared with private outfits, and twice as many healthcare assistants. Photograph: The Irish Times

Public nursing homes exceeded their budgets by 55 million in 2020, and the overrun is projected to almost double this year, according to documents provided to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) by a whistleblower.

The documents, which claim to be “careful verbatim notes” of meetings in the civil service, allege that officials discussed “critical issues” with the Nursing Home Support Scheme (NHSS), usually known as the Fair Deal scheme.

It describes how there have been ongoing issues for six years, and that a recent value for money report found a “massive cost of care issue”. This year, there is projected to be a 107 million overrun against budget, the document suggests.

The conversation between the officials describes how there are two and a half times as many nurses in public nursing homes compared with private outfits, and twice as many healthcare assistants. They discuss difficulties in getting staff to redeploy from “overstaffed” facilities, which they suggest has been rejected by the HSE over concerns it could spark industrial action.

They discuss efforts to bring “the HSE to the table to focus on it rather than kicking that can...

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