Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 177, Standing Order 131 is modified to permit an instruction to the Committee to which the Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014 may be recommitted in respect of certain amendments, for which it has the power to make provision in the Bill in relation to--(a) amending the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009, by amending the definition of 'transferred assets' to put it beyond any doubt that assets transferred after an application for financial support under the scheme is made, come within the definition of 'transferred assets'; and

(b) amending the Opticians Act 1956 to change the election year for the purposes of that Act from 2014 to 2015 to remove the requirement to hold elections to Bord na Radharcmhastóirí (the Opticians Board) in 2014 and to extend the terms of office of the current members of the board beyond 31st December, 2014 for a period of up to one year until the board has been subsumed into the Health and Social Care Professionals Council; andto change the title of the Bill to take account of these provisions.

I am tabling this motion to enable an urgent and important amendment to be made to the Nursing Home Support Scheme Act 2009 and the Opticians Act 1956. I will summarise what I have in mind.

The nursing home support scheme, commonly referred to as the fair deal scheme, is an important one that provides financial support for people who need long-term nursing home care. Under the scheme, an individual makes a contribution towards the cost of his or her care while the community in the form of the State pays the balance. This applies regardless of whether the nursing home in question is public, private or voluntary. The HSE administers the fair deal scheme within the resources available and in line with the nursing home support scheme legislation.

The scheme is predicated on the principle that applicants must contribute according to their means. The Act provides that assets transferred within the five years prior to applying for the scheme are taken into account in the financial assessment. This provision does not affect a person's right to sell assets for full market value. Rather, it is intended to prevent people from depriving themselves of assets for the purpose of the financial assessment. If a participant in the scheme were to transfer assets immediately after an application for State support was made or at any subsequent point, the existing definition means that it may be possible for the asset to be excluded from the financial review.

The purpose of this amendment is to prevent a situation arising where an applicant could transfer assets immediately after an application for State support is made on the basis of an argument that such asset transfers are not definitively captured by the definition of "transferred asset" in Schedule 1 of the 2009 Act. Accordingly, this is a technical amendment to put it beyond doubt that assets transferred after an application for the scheme is made also fall within the definition of "transferred asset". It is essential that there be no ambiguity in this regard.

The Optician Act 1956 provides that 2014 is an election year.

However, the Opticians Board is due to be subsumed into the Health and Social Care Professionals Council in accordance with the Government's programme of rationalisation of State agencies. The drafting of the Bill to rationalise the Opticians Board and the Health and Social Care Professionals Council is currently being finalised.

The proposed amendment will change the election year from 2014 to 2015. It will also provide that the subsequent election years will be 2019 and each fifth successive year after 2019. The purpose of this amendment is to have the practical effect of removing the requirement to hold elections to the Opticians Board this year, a matter of months before the board is due to be subsumed into the Health and Social Care Professionals Council. It would also extend the terms of office of the current members of the board for up to one year until the regulation of the professions of optometrist and dispensing optician has been transferred to the amended Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 by the end of this year or early next year.

The amendment needs to be made before autumn of this year as the Opticians Act requires that the elections in an election year be under way by that stage. The alternative would be to hold elections and appoint a new board in 2014 to hold office for a very short period, if at all.

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