Vol. 534 No. 4
145 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Health and Children the position with regard to an old age pension book when an elderly person is given a health board contract bed in a private nursing home; if payment of full or 90% of pen sion should be given to his Department or the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs; and if a person (details supplied) or their family is left with a small part, £10 to £15, of the pension. [11070/01]
The Nursing Homes (Subvention) Regulations, 1993, are administered by the health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority. The second schedule of the Nursing Home (Subvention) Regulations, 1993, sets out the general rules for the assessment of means in respect of an application for a nursing home subvention. "Means" for the purposes of these regulations are the income and the imputed value of assets of a person in respect of whom a subvention is being sought and the income and imputed income of his or her spouse. Article 8.2 of the Nursing Home (Subvention) Regulations, 1993, allows health boards disregard a sum equivalent to one fifth of the old age non contributory pension when assessing means and calculating the amount of subvention to be paid, such sum to be retained for the patient's personal use.
A health board may pay more than the maximum rate of subvention relative to an individual's level of dependency, for example in cases where personal funds are exhausted. Following an assessment of dependency and means, as provided for in the Nursing Home (Subvention) Regulations, 1993, sections 22.3 and 22.4 of the regulations permit health boards to contract beds in private nursing homes and to pay more than the maximum rates of subvention in such cases. However, the application of these provisions is a matter for the individual health board concerned in the context of meeting increasing demands for subventions within available resources.
I understand that, for administrative purposes, a patient may opt to appoint the health board as an agent to collect their pension. Nevertheless, there is no provision in the Nursing Home (Subvention) Regulations governing this issue and such an arrangement may only be entered into at the discretion of the patient.
In relation to the individual case referred to by the Deputy, I have asked the chief executive of the Eastern Regional Health Authority to examine this issue as a matter of urgency and respond directly to the Deputy.
