Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 242: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the new regulations regarding nursing home subvention in relation to funds available to the patient and the valuation of the person's home (details supplied); the relevance these figures have from a means test point of view; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4231/06]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990, the Health Service Executive is empowered to pay a subvention where a person has been approved on both means and dependency grounds, as provided for in the Nursing Homes (Subvention) Regulations 1993. This contribution will assist a person with the cost of the his or her care in a private nursing home.

The second schedule of the Nursing Homes (Subvention) Regulations 1993, sets out the general rules for the assessment of means in respect of an application for nursing home subvention. "Means" for the purposes of these regulations are the income and the imputed value of assets of a person in respect of whom a subvention is being sought and the income and imputed income of his or her spouse. Certain thresholds were set in the 1993 regulations for the means and assets of a person applying for a subvention. These thresholds had not been updated since they were set in 1993. The Nursing Homes Subvention (Amendment) Regulations 2005 amended the thresholds contained in the 1993 regulations by increasing the value of assets to be disregarded for the purposes of subvention assessment from £6,000, or €7,618, to €11,000, increasing the asset threshold above which subvention may be refused from €25,394 to €36,000 and increasing the threshold of principal residence value above which subvention may be refused from £75,000, or €95,230, to €500,000 or more, where the residence is located in the Dublin area, or €300,000 or more where the residence is located outside the Dublin area, provided that the applicant's income is greater than €9,000. This was previously £5,000, or €6,349.

The HSE continues to retain the discretion to impute an income of 5% of the estimated market value of the principal residence of an applicant for subvention, unless the residence is occupied by a spouse or son or daughter aged less than 21 years or in full-time education or in receipt of the disabled person's maintenance allowance, blind person's pension, disability benefit, invalidity pension or old age non-contributory pension, and generally does so unless there are exceptional circumstances. However, the residence value and asset threshold above which it may automatically refuse to pay a subvention has been increased substantially, as outlined, to take account of increased property values. The Department is also working on primary legislation to expand the policies and principles of the subvention scheme to facilitate implementation of the scheme by the HSE throughout the country, and it is the intention to bring this legislation before the Oireachtas in the near future.