Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

At present the Bill provides that the HSE may determine that a person is likely to require care services for the remainder of his or her life. This provision, in conjunction with section 3(2) of the Bill, acknowledges that the definition of "long-term residential care services" contains a minimum time period of 30 consecutive days. Its underlying intention is to enable the HSE to commence payment of financial support from the date the person enters the nursing home rather than after the expiration of 30 days.

I appreciate the intention of Senator Norris's amendment, which is to provide for the same effect without the need for a determination regarding the likelihood of a person's care needs over the remainder of his or her life. However, I can reassure the Senator that the existing wording was the subject of very careful consideration by the Office of the Attorney General. It achieved the Government and the Senator's policy intention of ensuring that financial support can be paid from the first day of a person's time in care. However, it also ensures that the HSE may take into account whether the person is likely to require nursing home care for the remainder of his or her days or whether rehabilitative care for a period of more than 30 days would be more appropriate.

It also acknowledges the second part of the definition of "long-term residential care services", namely, that such services should exclude rehabilitative care for a period of 12 consecutive months or period aggregating 12 months within a period of 24 consecutive months. For this reason I do not propose to accept the amendment. However, I hope my response has offered the Senator sufficient reassurance on this matter.