Lisbon, April 17, 2025 (Lusa) - The government on Thursday signed 90 financing contracts worth €88 million with the private and social sectors to create 3,300 places in the National Network for Integrated Continuing Care (RNCCI). The investment, carried out under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), will allow for the creation of more long-term care beds, mental health beds, and home-based responses, the secretary of state for health management, Cristina Vaz Tomé, told reporters at the end of the contract signing ceremony in Lisbon, which was attended by the minister for territorial cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida. "Today is really very important because we have a lot of money in the RRP to spend, but we also have to answer the citizens," he said. The network will create most of its posts in the North (1,179) and Centre (1,617), followed by the Algarve (56) and the West and Tagus Valley (56). Asked why Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, one of the regions most in need of long-term care beds, had the lowest number of places allocated, the minister explained that there were fewer applications in this region, which has to do with "the cost of space, the cost of property and the cost of construction". "But we still have room to open more applications, so we're going to try with operators who can provide this response in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region," he emphasised. Cristina Vaz Tomé said that some operators were unaware of the call for investment in the RNCCI, open from 12 December 2024 to 14 February, but had expressed their willingness to open more beds in this region. "I hope that with the new notice and, in fact, with this possibility, there will be this response in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region," he emphasised. At the ceremony, the minister said the 90 contracts signed are "roughly half in the private sector and half in the social sector". "The state delegates, makes responsible and supports the private sector and the social sector to deal with this very delicate operation of caring for the very sick, in some cases in the terminal phase of their lives," emphasised Manuel Castro Almeida. The minister recalled that, with the latest reprogramming of the RRP, the amount allocated to health rose from around €1.7 billion to €2.025 billion, of which €235 million is earmarked for the integrated long-term care and palliative care network. On the sidelines of the ceremony, the minister said that the government's signing contracts with charities and private organisations to finance works may give rise to "some controversy" because the government is in management, but he assured that, "criticism or no criticism, the RRP is to be complied with". "The deadlines have to be met. We can't stop. We also work for the elderly who need long-term care facilities. And if we don't work, if we don't do it now, during the period of the caretaker government, the beds won't be ready by 30 June 2026, as is necessary. And so we have to do what is necessary. If there are criticisms, we are here to support and explain them," he emphasised. The minister added that "the government's determination is not to slow down the pace of implementation of the RRP", emphasising that another 800 contracts will be signed in the coming weeks, in different areas. "It's the government that's in charge, not the civil service, which has to keep working. On the other hand, we have the comfort of the president, who, when he dissolved parliament, pointed out that, to implement European funds, the government should behave as if it were not in management. And so we do," he declared. HN/ADB // ADB. Lusa