The future of the Irish nursing home sector and the welfare of nursing home residents are under threat, the main representative group for nursing home operators has claimed.
The Irish Nursing Home Organisation said yesterday the Government's capital allowance scheme - a package of tax incentives - to encourage the construction of nursing homes was leading to an "explosion" in bed capacity that was "not sustainable".
Speaking at the publication of the INHO's annual survey of nursing homes, its chief executive, Mr Paul Costello, said members were despondent about the future and believed the sector was "now under threat".
He called on the Government to cancel the capital allowance scheme.
There are about 26,300 geriatric long-stay beds in the State. The majority - 56.7 per cent - are in the private sector. "Since 1995, the number of registered private nursing home beds has risen from just under 10,500 to almost 15,000. The Government's strategy of introducing capital allowances back in 1998 has clearly worked," Mr Costello said.
However, many nursing homes were already finding it increasingly difficult to remain viable as occupancy rates fell, he said.
"Some regions are suffering more than others, and Ulster occupancy levels are reaching disastrous levels."
The Department of Health plans to develop 800 more beds per year in public private partnership schemes (PPP) between now and 2011.
The report says that while some established private nursing homes previously had 97 per cent occupancy levels they had seen occupancy rates fall to 80 per cent over the past year.
"If capital allowances continue this alone will account for approximately 5,000 further beds in the system by 2011," said Mr Costello.
Even taking the projected increase in the number of people aged over 65 over the next seven years - expected to grow by 25 per cent or 107,000 people - the INHO says too many nursing home beds are coming on-stream.
The Minister of State with responsibility for older people, Mr Ivor Callely, however rejected the INHO call for an end to capital allowances at yesterday's publication.
"I don't think that's an appropriate way to go," he said, adding he was not going to tolerate those in the sector saying "I've got my goody bag and let's cut it off to everyone else now".
He said nearly all nursing homes tended to operate now on the basis of solely providing long-stay accommodation and care to elderly people.
"I would like to see nursing home operators to enter into developing new services, to look at day-care and rehab services."
While acknowledging 66 per cent of nursing home residents were termed "high dependency", he said long-term stay in a home could institutionalise a person and make them highly dependent.
His preference would be to enable more elderly people to live in their own homes and to access different types of services in nursing homes.
