Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has said that the government is ignoring concerns that the Fair Deal scheme is being abused by a large number of residential care providers and that the state is paying for care that is not being provided.

Teachta Crowe also said that he had received numerous complaints from family members of people in residential care facilities that receive bills far in excess of what is covered under the scheme for so-called ‘miscellaneous expenses’, including rental on mattresses.

Speaking after raising the matter in the Oireachtas Health Committee with the heads of the HSE and Department of Health yesterday, Teachta Crowe said:

“I have serious concerns about whether there are residential care providers who are exploiting the Fair Deal scheme and the families who rely on it. I have received numerous complaints from families of people who live in these homes and who feel they are being taken for a ride when it comes to what they pay and the care their loved ones should receive.

“There are some scandalous charges being extorted from families. One family even told me that they are charged monthly for the rental of a specialist mattress. Others tell of toiletries, hairdressing treatments, and ‘Entertainment charges’ that are all billed for without explanation.

“The government doesn’t want to hear about this because they have effectively privatised residential care in Ireland and are now beholden to these same providers who can act with impunity. We saw in the Primetime Investigates programme this year that there are serious issues with staffing and training in some residential facilities but there is no reduction in charges, no rebates with exorbitant bills still expected to be paid.

“Under the Fair Deal scheme, the state provides financial support for long-term nursing home care. I believe that there are some unscrupulous providers out there who are billing the state for care that they are clearly not providing, or at least not providing by the standards they are contracted to do and paid handsomely by families and the state to deliver. They are effectively ripping off families and our taxes through the state subsidy for care and services they are not delivering.

“They are making money from families by charging them through the nose for miscellaneous expenses because they know that families have no other options if their loved ones require residential care.

“It is utterly scandalous the lack of regulation in this area and shows how low that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will sink to in their quest to privatise as much of our health service as they can get away with.”