Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 102: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the number of persons who have applied for refunds arising from the illegal nursing home charges; the number of cases where the patient has already passed away; and the number of patients or claimants who have passed away since they applied for their refund. [32262/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Government has agreed the key elements of a scheme for the repayment of long stay charges for publicly funded residential care.

The Health Service Executive has informed my Department that an outside company with experience in handling mass claims will be engaged by the end of this month to provide an independent input into the design and administration of the scheme. The full details of the scheme will be agreed with the outside company on appointment. Once appointed, the outside company will be required to establish the status of applications received. A national helpline has been set up by the Health Service Executive to allow people to register if they believe they or a family member may be due a repayment. The helpline will continue to operate but there is no need for anyone who has already registered using this facility to make contact again to register for the scheme. Over 20,000 applications had been registered with the executive up to the end of October.