The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, the Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.
I wish to advise the Deputy that as part of the €150m Budget Day package, additional funding of €20 million was provided for the administration of the Nursing Home Subvention Scheme in 2006, bringing the total available budget to €161 million.
This funding was provided to support more basic nursing home subventions and reduce waiting lists for enhanced subventions; it is also intended to bring more consistency to subventions support throughout the country.