Under the Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990, health boards pay subventions towards the cost of maintaining older persons in private nursing homes. The rate of subvention, which is intended as a contribution rather than meeting the full cost of care, is £70, £95 and £120 per week depending on whether the older person is assessed as being of medium, high or maximum dependency. The cost of maintaining an older person in a private nursing home is not generally comparable to that of a health board long-stay nursing unit. Health board homes provide a range of ancillary services such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy, etc., with a wider range of staff employed. Such services are not generally provided in the private nursing home sector. In general, patients admitted to public nursing units tend to be more dependent, thus requiring a greater level of nursing care. The cost in public nursing units or long-stay hospitals vary considerably, from high-dependency units such as South Circular Road, Dublin, at £402 per week or St. Mary's, Mullingar at £410 per week, to less dependent units such as Edenderry at £288 per week. These are gross figures, from which an old age pension contribution can normally be deducted.