John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 834: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will reconsider the cut-off date of 9 December 1998 for families who are making claims under the national repayments scheme in respect of family members who are deceased; her views on whether such an arbitrary cut-off date is unfair and open to legal challenge; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30170/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006 was signed by the President on 23 June 2006 and the legislative provisions of the Act came into effect on 30 June 2006. The repayment scheme was launched publicly by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the scheme administrator KPMG/McCann Fitzgerald on 14 August 2006.

Under the scheme all those fully eligible persons who were wrongly charged and are alive will have their charges repaid in full. The estates of all those fully eligible persons, who were wrongly charged and died since 9 December 1998 will have the charges repaid in full. The scheme does not allow for repayments to the estates of those who died prior to that date.

The decision to limit repayments to the estates of those who died in the six years prior to 9 December 2004 reflects the reference in the Supreme Court judgement to the statute of Limitations — "the state has available to it the Statute of Limitations i.e. a six year limit". The Government has a responsibility to have regard to what the Supreme Court said, in order to limit the scale of total repayments which today's taxpayer would otherwise have to fund. The scheme strikes a fair balance in this regard.