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	Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) have accused the State of covering up the cost of public nursing home care.</p>
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	The organisation, which represents nursing homes across the country, say that data on fees paid to HSE nursing homes have not been released since 2011.</p>
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	CEO of NHI, Tadhg Daly, said the most recent figures published in March 2011 showed the average costs for a resident in a HSE nursing home was &euro;1,245 per week.</p>
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	He added that this cost was 40% above that applied for private and voluntary counterparts.</p>
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	&ldquo;Previous Minister for Health James Reilly publicly questioned why a 50% cost differential existed between the sectors. The reality is public nursing home costs are far beyond the average presented four years ago.</p>
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	&ldquo;A HSE Midlands Information Document published May 2012 provided an insight into the reality of public nursing home costs. It cited average costs per bed well beyond &euro;1,245 and up to &euro;2,500.</p>
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	&ldquo;Publication of the true cost of public nursing home care is imperative to provide a more realistic picture as to what the cost of long-term residential care entails,&rdquo; said Mr Daly.</p>
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	In response, the HSE said the costs of public home care are a matter of public record.</p>
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	&ldquo;Public nursing home costs are acknowledged to be higher, and there are good reasons for this. Public facilities have to provide care for higher numbers of complex dependency cases which require higher levels of staffing, particularly nursing staff.</p>
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	&ldquo;The HSE is actively working to reduce the costs of public nursing home facilities to the maximum extent possible,&quot; they said.</p>
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	<a href="http://utv.ie/News/2015/05/04/State-accused-of-covering-up-cost-of-nursing-home-care-36628">http://utv.ie/News/2015/05/04/State-accused-of-covering-up-cost-of-nursing-home-care-36628</a></p>
