I presume the Deputy is referring to the assessment of family circumstances of subvention applicants, as well as the assessment of their means which allows health boards disregard a sum equivalent to one fifth of the old age non-contributory pension when assessing these means and calculating the amount of subvention to be paid.
An additional allocation of £4 million was made available in the 1998 letters of determination to six of the eight health boards, where the regulations relating to the income disregard were applied incorrectly, to meet the costs of arrears payments in respect of the full implementation of the Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990, and subsequent regulations. The sum allocated to the South Eastern Health Board for this purpose was £610,000.
I should explain that the sum of £4 million was not provided solely for the purposes of the income disregard arrears. Health boards were also incurring additional expenditure as a result of the easing of family circumstances regulations in 1996. The funding was intended to address both problems and to meet funding shortfalls in the scheme generally.
Following a meeting with the Office of the Ombudsman in December 1999, the Department became aware of continuing delays in paying arrears. The Department took the matter up with the relevant boards and is continuing to pursue the matter. As far as the South Eastern Health Board is concerned, I have been advised by the board that it has made retrospective payments in respect of 144 cases to persons currently resident in nursing homes and arrangements are being made to pay arrears in respect of former subvention recipients now deceased and former recipients who are no longer resident in nursing homes.
I wish to assure the Deputy that every effort will be made to pay all outstanding arrears as soon as possible and I have instructed my Department to pursue this with the health boards concerned.
