CHAPTER 13: Land Use Zoning
PA CH 13.1: Section 13.5 Zoning Objectives, Vision and Use Classes, page 452
Insert caveat 19 ‘For Public Operators Only’ to the following uses in the Permitted in Principle category of the CI-Community Infrastructure zoning objective, ‘Residential Care Home/Retirement Home’ and ‘Sheltered Accommodation’.
the above proposal runs counter to National Government Policy and the national need for more nursing homes . especially in the Dublin Catchment area..where there is a big demand. Many of you have heard the phrase " bed blockers" which i do not like using ....on a recent radio interview i heard figure used...that there were 600 patients in inappropriate beds in hospitals that would be better suited to step down facilities like nursing homes and eventually back home into their own homes after rehab and recovery.
as someone who worked in the Department of Health and with the Hse over a considerable period of time...i am aware of the policies and programmes that are currently under way.
the Hse only invest in "public nursing homes" on their own lands or grounds..eg say adjacent to a hospital or to replace and old outdated facility deemed unsuitable by HIQA or HSE , Department of Health.
The model used by the hse is to encourage private investors to build facilities and then engage with the via whats known as the " fair deal nursing home subvention scheme"..where the hse , after a means test,pay a % or all of the agreed nursing home charges...thus providing public access to nursing home care in top class regulated nursing home facilities.
to lock out or bar the above model from CI lands flies in the face of the reality of whats happening on the ground in ireland.
if the council dont want nursing homes on CI land...then they should remove that category from the matrix or use class.
i dont think that is the intention.
i request that the for public operators only be removed in the case of nursing homes or words inserted that nursing homes with public patients availing of the government nursing home subvention scheme will be allowed in this zoning category
Older persons now make up 13% of our population and by 2026 will have grown to 16% of population , the reality is that 4.5% of this growing population cohort will require long-term care in nursing homes.
no matter whether the operator of a nursing home is a private entity or a public entity, the vast majority of residents (>90%) will access services through the Nursing Home Support Scheme allowing the resident to choose the nursing home of their choice, in the location of their choice without cost a direct impact on the resident
Note that The average rate payable under the scheme to a provide provider is €992.00 per resident per week compared to the cost of €1616 per resident per week residing in a HSE facility
The current HSE capital plan does not include a provision for building any public Residential Care Home’s in the Dublin Region or within Fingal County areas
The proposed amendment to permitted uses is not in the best interests of either the state or nor the public by reducing the supply of suitable sites