Vol. 429 No. 3
232 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health if the budget of the North-Eastern Health Board will be sufficient to enable it to pay a subvention, under the Health (Nursing Homes) Act of 1990 to all the private nursing homes in County Meath that qualify under the legislation from 1 May 1993, the date when the legislation is to be brought into effect.
A provision of £4 million has been made in the 1993 allocation to my Department to begin the phased implementation of the Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990 this year. Under the new Act, a health board may pay a subvention to a person who requires care in a nursing home and who cannot afford to pay for such care. Provision will be made from the additional allocation to my Department to enable each health board to operate the new arrangements for the payment of subvention in nursing homes which will come into effect when the Act is commenced.
