Vol. 550 No. 4
340 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children, further to Parliamentary Question No. 322 of 23 October 2001, the money which has been made available to the South Health Board to pay arrears; and the amount which has been repaid to date. [8457/02]
As the Deputy is aware, it has been decided that moneys should be paid to those who were adversely affected by the provision in the nursing home subvention regulations which allowed for the assessment of the capacity of the adult offspring of older people who applied for nursing home subvention to contribute towards the cost of their parent's nursing home care. A group representing the Department and the health boards and authorities was established to ensure that this process is carried out on a uniform basis as speedily as possible. Instructions as to how the payments should be made was issued by my Department and funding was made available to commence the making of these payments from the 1 November 2001.
The funding allocated to the Southern Health Board to meet the costs of these payments in 2001 was £250,000 or €317,000. The amount granted in 2002 was £750,000 or €889,000. I am advised by the chief executive officer of the Southern Health Board that €309,299 has been paid to date and that the remaining payments are being processed as a matter of urgency. I can assure the Deputy that my Department will continue to liaise with the health boards to ensure that all payments are made as speedily as possible.
