Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 July 2022
207. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health if there was a regulatory system in place to check the way in which funds provided to nursing homes through the temporary assistance payment scheme were used for; and the details of same. [36327/22]
View answerThe COVID-19 Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS) was established in April 2020 in response to a public health emergency to provide support to private and voluntary nursing homes to mitigate and respond to the impacts of COVID-19. The core concept of the scheme when it was established was that the State would provide additional funding to those nursing homes that require it to contribute towards costs associated with COVID-19 preparedness, mitigation and outbreak management. €134.5m was made available in funding for the scheme from April 2020 to June 2021.
The scheme was established on an administrative basis and guidelines were issued by the HSE setting out allowable and non-allowable costs and a robust regime of overall controls.
Scheme payments are based on vouched expenditure, meaning that all claims were for COVID-19 related costs incurred by nursing homes and supported by financial information. Each nursing home’s monthly claim is capped depending on size, up to an overall maximum of €60,000 per month. All claims are reviewed and validated, with avenues for escalation and query where needed.
All applications may be audited for a period of six years, and any unallowable applications paid or claims that cannot be vouched can be clawed back. Under the terms of the Covid-19 Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme for Nursing Homes, each nursing home seeking support under the arrangement agreed that its application would be subject to audit.
