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Health Repayment Scheme.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 December 2006

Wednesday, 6 December 2006

Questions (201)

Willie Penrose

Question:

223 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Health and Children the persons who can apply for repayment under the health repayment scheme; if in relation to a person who was in a nursing home and died in 1993 and who had been wrongly charged the estate of this person can make a claim for such repayment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42069/06]

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Written answers

The Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006 came into effect on 30 June 2006. The repayment scheme was launched publicly by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the scheme administrator KPMG/McCann Fitzgerald on 14 August 2006. A national advertising campaign and a helpline also commenced on this date.

Under the scheme all those fully eligible persons who were wrongly charged and are alive will have their charges repaid in full. The estates of all those fully eligible persons, who were wrongly charged and died since 9 December 1998 will have the charges repaid in full. The scheme does not allow for repayments to the estates of those who died prior to that date.

The decision to limit repayments to the estates of those who died in the six years prior to 9 December 2004 reflects the reference in the Supreme Court judgement to the statute of Limitations — "the state has available to it the Statute of Limitations i.e. a six year limit". The Government has a responsibility to have regard to what the Supreme Court said, in order to limit the scale of total repayments which today's taxpayer would otherwise have to fund. The scheme strikes a fair balance in this regard.

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