merrion street

Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler TD, has announced a further extension of the outbreak assistance payment for private and voluntary nursing homes.  

Minister Butler said: “The payment which is available to nursing homes experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak was secured until the end of this year. I am pleased to extend it further to the end of March 2022, recognising the ongoing risks presented by COVID-19.” 

Minister Butler continued: “As the pandemic has continued, many further support measures for private and voluntary nursing homes have been made available through the State. These include:

• the provision of PPE on a no-cost basis
• the implementation of serial testing
• the support and engagement of HSE COVID-19 response teams and public health teams
• access to staff from community and acute hospitals, where possible
• a suite of focused public health guidance and training resources and 
• the temporary accommodation scheme for nursing home staff

Many of these will continue to be provided for the foreseeable future. Importantly, serial testing has been reintroduced to all nursing homes for two cycles and commenced on 6th December. The second cycle will begin in early January.

Minister Butler concluded: “The State has continued to prioritise nursing home residents and staff in its response to COVID-19, including through the successful and early roll-out of the vaccine programme across the sector. This prioritisation is ongoing with the booster programme almost complete among those living in nursing homes”. 

ENDS//