I intend to take Questions Nos. 138 and 139 together.
The Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990 which I was pleased to bring into effect on 1 September 1993 has two principal objectives: firstly, to ensure high standards of accommodation and care in all nursing homes registered by health boards under the Act and, secondly, to provide a new system of nursing home subvention so that dependent persons most in need of nursing home care would have access to such care. The new Act is a major step forward in ensuring that dependent elderly persons in this country will be well cared for.
So far a total of £9 million has been made available in 1994 for the implementation of the Nursing Homes Act, 1990. Funding was allocated to health boards on the basis of the size of the nursing home sector and expected demand under the new subvention scheme.