I want to raise again the ongoing scandal of residents in nursing homes under the fair deal scheme being charged for items that are covered by the medical card. I raised this with the Secretary General of the Department at the Committee of Public Accounts more than a year ago, I raised it with senior management of the HSE and I raised it with the Minister, and still nothing. I have received a reply to a freedom of information request that revealed internal discussions within the HSE following on from my raising it at the Committee of Public Accounts. The assistant national director of the primary care reimbursement service stated that a clause could be put into the contract of the nursing home with the requirement not to charge. He said that would place a legal responsibility on funded nursing homes and residential care facilities not to charge.

People are being ripped off monthly and weekly. Residents and their families, when they raise this issue, are being told, “You can take them home or you can go elsewhere.”

Thank you, Deputy, the time is up.

We have had the recent scandal with nursing homes. This is an ongoing scandal.

Please, the time is up.

When is the Government going to act?

Am I talking to myself? The time is up, Deputy.

Will the Government ask the HSE and the Department to put a clause into the contract to secure and offer those residents protection so they are not ripped off - the most vulnerable in society?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As she knows, any older person, regardless of whether they live at home, live in a community care home or live in a nursing home, if they have a medical card, is entitled to the same rights. Whatever the medical card entitles them to, for example, incontinence supports or physiotherapy, they are entitled to that regardless of where they are living, so that should not change.

That is not happening.

In some instances, it is not happening. I spoke to the Deputy in the corridor about it and she said she would send me on some information. If she would-----

I sent it to the Minister.

The Deputy spoke to me and I am the Minister of State with responsibility for older people, so if she wants, she can copy me into that and we will certainly look at it. The Department is currently looking at the situation.