Vol. 562 No. 6
122 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of qualified persons who are awaiting payment of enhanced subvention in the Southern Health Board region; the longest length of time that a person has had to wait; the number of those waiting for payment in nursing homes in County Kerry; the number of applications that have been received by the board but not to date processed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6833/03]
As the Deputy may be aware, under the Health (Nursing Homes) Act 1990, health boards provide subventions to assist persons in meeting the costs of nursing home care. However, it was never intended that subventions would meet the full costs involved. Apart from arrangements entered into under Article 22.3 of the Nursing Home (Subvention) Regulations 1993, which allows a health board enter into an arrangement with a private nursing home, the placement of a person in a private nursing home and the fees charged are private arrangements between the nursing home and the individual resident.
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.
I am advised by the Southern Health Board that the information requested by the Deputy is as follows: there are currently 518 people on a waiting list for enhanced subvention. Of these, 190 have already received an enhanced subvention and are awaiting further enhancement, 174 are in receipt of basic subvention plus an additional allocation under article 10.6 and 154 are in receipt of a basic subvention alone. The current waiting time is approximately 18 months. There are currently 82 people on a waiting list in nursing homes in County Kerry. All applicants for enhanced subvention have been placed on a waiting list and the position regarding enhanced subvention is reviewed on a weekly basis and is kept under constant review. My Department has made considerable resources available to the Southern Health Board in recent years to help cope with the pressures on the nursing home subvention scheme and in 2003 the board will spend almost €17 million on subventions under the scheme. While total expenditure on the nursing home subvention scheme was just over €30 million in 1998, it will amount to almost €110 million in 2003, an increase of 267%.
