The Taoiseach has said there is no evidence there are more deaths related to Covid-19 in private nursing homes compared with public ones.
The latest figures show there are at least 155 Covid-19 clusters in nursing homes in the Republic and almost half of the deaths recorded have been among patients in homes.
Speaking in the Dail on Thursday, RISE TD Paul Murphy asked Leo Varadkar if he agreed that there is an emergency in nursing homes and if this is a symptom of privatisation.
Mr Varadkar said all nursing homes are facing challenges responding to Covid-19, regardless of their ownership.
I have yet to see any evidence that indicates that the number of cases or proportion of cases in private nursing homes versus public is higher or vice versa
Asked if he should declare the situation with Covid-19 as an emergency in nursing homes, Mr Varadkar said: “I don’t think the emergency is confined to nursing homes.
“It is a national emergency, that emergency exists not only in care homes but in hospitals and the community as well. It is a health emergency, an economic emergency and it could become a fiscal emergency.
“As is the case in most countries, we have a mix of nursing homes in Ireland – some are voluntary, some private or for profit and some are HSE.
“I have yet to see any evidence that indicates that the number of cases or proportion of cases in private nursing homes versus public is higher or vice versa or the number of deaths is higher in private homes compared to public ones.
“I like to base my opinion on facts and I have yet to see any facts that show private or public ones are performing worse or better than each other when it comes to the number of deaths.
“I would ask people not to jump to those conclusions if the facts are not there and be responsible for the commentary. There are people in nursing homes and care homes who are terrified of getting the virus and lots of people who are worried for them.”
I think the scale of the infection numbers in the nursing home setting was probably not something that was envisaged very early on
The chairman of the Covid-19 expert advisory group has said it is more difficult to contain coronavirus in nursing homes compared with hospitals.
Dr Cillian De Gascun, a consultant virologist and director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL), told Newstalk FM: “Nursing homes are not as straightforward as hospitals because you are trying to get that balance between people living in what is their home while also having significant care needs.
“It is not as easy to divide into different wards or zones and prevent cross-contamination.”
Dr De Gascun said the outbreaks “have highlighted issues people were not aware of” in the nursing home sector.
He said: “I think the scale of the infection numbers in the nursing home setting was probably not something that was envisaged very early on.
“It was not something that we had seen from the early stages of the pandemic in other countries but it is certainly a priority now for the department and for the HSE.”