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Parliamentary Questions - Tuesday, 27 January 2009
413. Deputy James Reilly asked the Minister for Health and Children when the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008 will be passed; if it is approved by the Oireachtas, when the new system will become available to applicants; the funding she has in budget 2009 for it; when regulations will be approved; the length of time it will take to negotiate fees and approve nursing homes for the scheme; and if she will make a detailed statement on the matter as to a timeline when this new service will become available.
Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy Máire Hoctor): As the Deputy is aware, the Minister published the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008 on the 9th October and introduced it at Second Stage in the Dáil in November. It is her intention to bring the legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas as soon as possible with a view to implementing the scheme in 2009. Only after the legislation has been enacted, and the scheme commenced, will the Health Service Executive be in a position to consider applications under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme.
Budget 2009 provided €55 million for the implementation of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme this year. This brings the total funding in the subhead for long-term residential care in 2009 to €909 million. The Bill provides that the Minister may make Regulations on various matters. Where necessary, it is intended that Regulations will be made as soon as possible in tandem with the commencement of the scheme.
Under the new scheme, the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) will negotiate prices for long-term care with private nursing home owners on behalf of the State. Where nursing homes agree prices for the purposes of the scheme with the NTPF, the NTPF will recommend the homes to the Health Service Executive for inclusion on the list of nursing homes ’approved’ for the scheme. A person availing of the scheme can then choose any approved private nursing home or public nursing home on the list subject to availability and the suitability of the home to meet their care needs.
In order to become approved for the purposes of the scheme, a private nursing home must: a) be registered under the Health (Nursing Homes) Act 1990 at present and, in the future, under the Health Act 2007 (once the relevant sections are commenced), b) have agreed a price for the purposes of the scheme with the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), c) hold a valid tax clearance certificate.
The NTPF’s negotiating role under the scheme will be an ongoing one. The price agreed with private nursing homes for the purposes of the scheme will naturally be subject to periodic re-negotiation to take account of inflation and other developments. The NTPF will commence its role under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme as soon as the legislation has been passed and the relevant section of the Act commenced.
In conclusion, the timeframe for commencement of the scheme is contingent upon the passage of the legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas and the successful negotiation by the National Treatment Purchase Fund of agreed prices for the scheme. Within this context, it is not possible to be specific about a timeframe at this stage. However, it is anticipated that the Scheme will commence during the second half of 2009.

Fair deal update

Nursing home scheme set to get green light
21 September 2008 Sunday Business Post
By Niamh Connolly
The Attorney General is set to sanction the Fair Deal Nursing Home Scheme proposed by Minister for Health Mary Harney.Legislation to set up the scheme is to be advanced in the current Dáil session that starts this week.The Fair Deal scheme, which was unveiled in December 2006,was to be introduced last January, but was delayed due to legislative difficulties.Several well-placed sources told The Sunday Business Post that the Attorney General had already given the green light to the legislative proposals.A spokesman for the health minister said the AG and the minister had worked intensively on the legislation over the summer, and that ‘‘work is near completion. We hope to publish the bill shortly’’.Under the Fair Deal scheme, those in need of nursing home care would pay 80 per cent of their disposable income towards the costs, and could be charged up to 15 per cent of the value of their home and assets after death, while the state would pay the balance.Some €110 million had been earmarked for the scheme, but €85 million was clawed back into government coffers last July, due to delays in its introduction.The cabinet approved the bill at its final meeting at the end of July, but minister of state Máire Hoctor said it would proceed next year, after it was ‘‘put on a robust legal footing’’ by the AG’s office and enacted by the Oireachtas.She promised a Dáil debate and conferral with the social partners as soon as the bill was published.