Ms Angela Noonan:

The reason these items are not covered in the fair deal scheme is that they are covered under the medical card scheme. This has been done to ensure the taxpayer does not pay for the same services twice because if we were paying for them under the nursing home support scheme, they are also covered under the medical scheme. That is why they are covered under the fair deal scheme. When we place somebody in long-term residential care - a nursing home - we consider it as being the same as being in their own home except with different supports, so that whatever they are entitled to in their own home, they are also entitled to in the nursing home.