John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Corrigan for raising this issue which relates to the nursing homes support scheme, the fair deal scheme.

The nursing homes support scheme is a system of financial support for individuals in public, voluntary and approved private nursing homes. The scheme is available to anyone assessed as needing long-term nursing home care, including dementia-specific nursing home care. However, it does not cover long-term residential care in other settings, such as mental health and disability facilities. As the Senator is aware, the scheme commenced on 27 October 2009. To date, over 15,800 applications have been received and over 11,600 of these have been processed to completion. The HSE is continuing to process applications on a daily basis.

In order to qualify for the scheme, all private nursing homes must negotiate and agree a price for the cost of care with the National Treatment Purchase Fund. This is a necessary feature of the scheme due to the commitment by the State to meet the full balance of the cost of care over and above a person's contribution. The price agreed with the National Treatment Purchase Fund covers all residents entering the nursing home regardless of the level of their care needs.

For individuals applying to the scheme, the first stage in the application process is a care needs assessment. This assessment is carried out by appropriate healthcare professionals appointed by the HSE. The results of the assessment are submitted to the HSE in the form of a report called a common summary assessment report. Applicants to the scheme are given a copy of this report. A person must be assessed as needing long-term nursing home care to qualify for financial support under the scheme. In addition to the care needs assessment, the nursing home will carry out its own assessment to determine whether it can meet an individual's particular needs.

Once an individual's application has been approved and their chosen nursing home has confirmed their admission, the HSE immediately arranges for payment of financial support on the applicant's behalf to their chosen nursing home. Financial support will continue to be paid for the duration of the individual's time in care. In the event that a person's needs change after they enter a nursing home, the HSE can carry out a review of the care needs assessment.

The HSE can undertake this review on its own initiative or at the request of the individual. Where the review indicates that a person's needs have changed and it is decided their needs are best met by transfer to another nursing home or to a different unit within the same nursing home, his or her financial support can be transferred with him or her. This may result in a higher level of support being paid to the individual. This feature of the scheme ensures flexibility and allows a person to continue to receive financial support in the event that a nursing home can no longer cater for his or her care needs.