Vol. 574 No. 5
146 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Health and Children the terms of reference of the group established by his Department to undertake a review of the nursing home subvention scheme; when he expects the report to be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27572/03]
As the Deputy will be aware, an expenditure review of the nursing home subvention scheme has been carried out by Professor Eamon O'Shea, National University of Ireland, Galway. The review was commissioned jointly by the Departments of Health and Children and Finance, following a Government decision in 1999. The O'Shea report was formally launched on 25 June 2003 at a joint press conference with Deputy Coughlan, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs. The Minister launched the Mercer report on the future financing of long-term care in Ireland at the joint press conference. Following the publication of the O'Shea and Mercer reports, it was agreed that a working group should be established by my Department to review the operation of the nursing home subvention scheme.
The inaugural meeting of the working group is due to take place in early December. One of the items for discussion by the working group at its first meeting will be the terms of reference for the review, and as such it is not possible at present to provide details to the Deputy. However, I will ensure that the terms of reference are forwarded to the Deputy as soon as they are approved by the working group.
The objective of the review is to develop a scheme which will be transparent, offer a high standard of care for clients, provide equity in the system to include standardised dependency and means testing, be less discretionary, provide both a home and nursing home subvention depending on need, be consistent in implementation throughout the country and draw on experience of the operation of the old scheme.
