Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 April 2004
554 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on the provision of nursing home care for the elderly; and his further views on the future of the nursing home subvention and the requirement on elderly persons going into care to sell their houses. [11470/04]
View answerThe Health (Nursing Homes) Act 1990 which came into effect on 1 September 1993 has two principal objectives. The first is to ensure high standards of accommodation and care in all nursing homes registered under the Act and the second is to provide a new system of nursing home subvention so that dependent persons most in need of nursing home care will have access to such care. The most recent information available indicates that approximately 400 homes had been registered, with 8,300 people in receipt of subvention. The subvention scheme was never intended to pay the full costs of private nursing home care but to give some financial assistance to those people most in need.
The rates of subvention are €114.30, €152.40 and €190.50 per week depending on whether the assessed level of dependency is medium, high or maximum. A sum of €5 million was allocated for the scheme when it was introduced in 1993. However, due to a range of factors, including demographics, increasing levels of dependency and economic circumstances, the costs of the scheme have risen as follows: 1993, €5 million; 1994, €15.192 million; 1995, €19.345 million; 1996, €21.438 million; 1997, €35.361 million, including €5 million once-off; 1998, €30.282 million; 1999, €42.129 million; 2000, €48.439 million; 2001, €66.973 million; 2002, €102.94 million; and 2003, €110 million. An additional sum of €3.749 million was made available in 2004 bringing total expenditure on the scheme to €113.749 million.
A review of the nursing home regulations is also underway. This review will look at all aspects of the scheme including the allowances given for assets, assessment procedures for means and dependency. The Department is also in the process of consulting all stakeholders with an interest in the scheme to hear their views on how it might be improved to benefit the most important people involved, that is the patients. As mentioned earlier, if a person opts for private nursing home care and seeks a subvention from the State, a means test is employed to take into account the value of that person's property. This is only done if that person does not have a dependent relative or a relative in receipt of certain social welfare payments in residence in the house. One of the terms of reference of the review group on the nursing home subvention scheme is to make recommendations on an equitable means assessment test for subvention.
It may be of interest to the Deputy to note that my colleague, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Coughlan, recently launched a publication, Study to Examine the Future Financing of Long-Term Care in Ireland, prepared by Mercer Limited. The objective of this study was, inter alia, to look at the best ways to structure support for long-term care and to look at the most effective and equitable methods of funding.
