Jimmy Deenihan
Ceist:194 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Health and Children if the Southern Health Board is the only health board not paying enhanced subvention to qualified recipients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29560/01]
Vol. 545 No. 1
194 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Health and Children if the Southern Health Board is the only health board not paying enhanced subvention to qualified recipients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29560/01]
196 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Health and Children when funds will be sanctioned to the Southern Health Board in respect of enhanced subvention. [29577/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 194 and 196 together.
The Nursing Homes (Subvention) Regulations, 1993, are administered by the health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority. A health board may pay more than the maximum rate of subvention relative to an individual's level of dependency, for example, in cases where personal funds are exhausted. Articles 22.3 and 22.4 of the Nursing Home (Subvention) Regulations, 1993, permit health boards to contract beds in private nursing homes and to pay more than the maximum rates of subvention in such cases. However, the application of these provisions is a matter for the individual health board concerned in the context of meeting increasing demands for subventions within the board's revenue allocation as notified annually in the letters of determination. This is in keeping with the provisions of the Health (Amendment) (No. 3) Act, 1996.