Vol. 571 No. 2
283 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Health and Children if there is an agreement between our Government and that of the UK regarding the rights of citizens born before 1922 who spent their working life in Northern Ireland but now live south of the Border; if they are entitled to residential care free of charge in either Northern Ireland/UK or here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21451/03]
The Deputy is enquiring about entitlement to residential care of citizens born before 1922. In this country, entitlement to health services, including residential care, is based on residency and means. Any person, regardless of nationality, who is accepted by the health boards as being ordinarily resident in Ireland is entitled to either full eligibility, defined as category 1, i.e. medical card holders, or limited eligibility, defined as category 2, for health services. Health boards normally regard a person as "ordinarily resident" in Ireland if he or she satisfies the health board that it is his or her intention to remain in Ireland for a minimum period of one year. I understand that a similar position pertains in the UK in that, in the first instance, a person needs to be resident in order to be eligible for services.
Charges in respect of long-stay or extended residential care in health board institutions can be made under two sets of regulations. They can be made under the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) Regulations 1976, as amended by the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) (Amendment) Regulations 1987. These regulations enable charges to be made towards the cost of providing hospital in-patient services for persons with income who have been in receipt of such services for more than 30 days or for periods totalling more than 30 days within the previous 12 months. The regulations provide that a charge is made at a rate not exceeding the person's income. Medical card holders and persons with dependants are exempt from these charges.
Charges may also be made under the Institutional Assistance Regulations 1965 where the patient receives "shelter and maintenance" rather than treatment. These charges apply from the date of admission and are payable by all patients who are in receipt of incomes, including medical card holders and persons with dependants.
In deciding the amount to be contributed, health boards have regard to the person's individual circumstances. Allowance is made for any financial commitments the person may have and a reasonable amount is left to meet the person's personal needs. Charges may be waived if, in the opinion of the chief executive officer of the appropriate health board, payment would cause undue hardship. It is open to all persons to apply to the chief executive officer of the appropriate health board for health services if they are unable to provide these services for themselves or their dependants without hardship.
