€10m new support scheme announced for nursing homes to cope with energy inflation

The government has announced a new €10 million program to assist nursing homes with rising energy costs.

Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, and the Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, have announced the launch of the Temporary Inflation Payment Scheme (TIPS), additional support to help private and voluntary nursing homes with inflationary energy cost increases from July to December 2022.

This funding drive will support all private and voluntary nursing homes that have an agreement with the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) for ‘Fair Deal’.

From November 11, eligible nursing homes can apply for the scheme to meet energy bills for July to December this year.

Each nursing home can apply for up to €31,500 in vouched energy rises.

Nursing homes can claim for heating and electricity increases of up to €7,000 per month, with 75% of year-on-year cost increases to be reimbursed up to a maximum payment of €5,250 per month per nursing home, backdated to 1 July 2022

The aim of the Temporary Inflation Payment Scheme (TIPS) is to ease pressures put on nursing homes by spiraling energy prices.

The additional energy supports were announced as part of Budget 2023. The €10m will be drawn from the €100m once-off fund that has been allocated to support community-based health and social care service providers for the 2022 energy-related cost increases.

“I am particularly conscious that increased energy costs can often disproportionately affect smaller, family-run and voluntary nursing homes that do not have the same access to economies of scale as larger nursing homes,” said Mary Butler, Minister for Older People.

“The purpose of these additional supports is to make sure viable nursing homes do not experience difficulties in delivering services due to the rise in energy costs.”

TIPS will operate parallelly with the Covid-19 Outbreak Assistance under the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS).

Over €145 million have been made available to nursing homes through TAPS, which has been in place since the beginning of the pandemic and has been extended through the end of the year.

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