Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

By the end of March this year 22,600 people were in receipt of long-term residential care support, in public, private and voluntary institutions. More than 11,000 were in the nursing home support scheme, the fair deal, which is the subject of the question. As the Minister pointed out, applications for approval under the fair deal scheme will continue to be processed and accepted but this is a budget cap scheme and the Minister has a responsibility to find out where the money has gone and for what reasons decisions were taken to divert it from the particular focus of attention and care for elderly people. The Minister also seeks to ensure that only agreed costs are met from the long-term residential facility. I expect this will be the subject of further questioning in the House.

In answer to the Deputy, the commitment in the programme for Government to review the fair deal will be carried out. The Cabinet is anxious to have the Minister conclude his two-week analysis of the situation. I understand the concerns elderly people may have but this money is all for the care of the elderly and comes from different subheads. The Minister has a duty to find out what happened and deal with the situation by allocating moneys from different subheads. He will report to the House accordingly.

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