Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The Department is examining primary legislation to expand the policies and principles of the subvention scheme to facilitate implementation of the scheme by the HSE throughout the country. This is proceeding through the Dáil and may afford the Deputy a legislative peg on which to hang her argument again. The thresholds contained in the Nursing Homes (Subvention) Regulations 1993 on an applicant's assets and the value of an applicant's primary residence were increased by regulations on 14 December 2005 to bring them into line with modern valuations. A working group chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach and comprising senior officials from the relevant Departments was established following the publication of the Mercer report entitled, Study to Examine the Future Financing of Long-Term Care in Ireland. This group is examining the options on a sustainable system of long-term care, the views of the consultation that was undertaken on that report and the review of the nursing home subvention scheme by Professor Eamon O'Shea. The Government is considering the report of that group.

The future of residential care funding was discussed by the social partners as part of the report Towards 2016: Ten Year Framework for the Social Partnership Agreement 2006-2016, which states that there should be appropriate and equitable levels of co-payment by care recipients based on a national standardised financial assessment. Perhaps there is some comfort for the Deputy there. The agreement also states that the level of State support for residential care should be indifferent as to whether that care is in a public or private facility.

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