Written Answers. - Nursing Home Subventions.
167.
Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the fact that people needing nursing home care in the North-Eastern Health Board area have to go on waiting lists for subvention; the number of patients actually on waiting lists; if calculations on the amount it would cost to alleviate this serious problem have been done; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23530/03]
Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Mr. Callely): The assessment of an individual application for nursing home subvention is a matter for each health board in the first instance.
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. The current rates are €114.30, €152.40 and €190.50, depending on the dependency of that person, be it medium, high or maximum.
Apart from contracts 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 is a private arrangement between the nursing home and the individual resident. Article 22.4 also permits the health board to pay more than the maximum rate of subvention, in cases where, for example, personal funds are exhausted.
The board has informed my Department that there are currently 72 people on a waiting list for subvention in its functional area as follows: 64 in Cavan/Monaghan, six in Louth and two in Meath. The board has estimated that it would cost €260,000 for the remainder of this year to deal with all the cases on the waiting list based on an average subvention payment of €300 per week per client. As the Deputy is aware the service plan and budget for service provision in 2003 for the North-Eastern Health Board was submitted to my Department and approved earlier this year. I should point out that each health board, when administering the nursing home subvention scheme, is obliged to have regard to its overall budget allocation as notified in the letter of determination from my Department.