Vol. 537 No. 2
199 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children the money due to be refunded to the daughter of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 4 covering a period in a nursing home from 27 November 1996 to 24 March 1997. [15517/01]
The provision which allowed for the assessment of the capacity of the adult sons and or daughters of older people who applied for nursing home subventions to contribute towards the cost of their parents' nursing home care was deleted from 1 January 1999. It has been decided that moneys should be paid to those who were adversely affected by this provision and it is anticipated that these payments will cost in the region of £6 million. A group representing the Department, the health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority has been established to ensure that this process is carried out on a uniform basis as speedily as possible. This will be a complex exercise involving, inter alia, difficult issues of traceability, and it may take some time to complete. Nevertheless, I can offer assurance that every effort will be made to make payments as quickly as possible.
In relation to the particular case raised by the Deputy, as the provision of health services in the Dublin area is a matter for the Eastern Regional Health Authority, I have asked the chief executive officer of the authority to investigate and respond directly to the Deputy as a matter of urgency.
