Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 171: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the extent to which she has responded to applications for refund under the national repayment scheme in respect of charges imposed on those in nursing homes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9364/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The health repayment scheme is administered by the Health Service Executive (HSE) in conjunction with the appointed Scheme Administrator KPMG/McCann Fitzgerald.

The HSE has informed the Department that over 25,000 forms have been submitted to the Scheme Administrator applying for repayments and these applications are being processed at present. The timeframe for repayment is predicated primarily on whether the applicant is alive as living people who were wrongly charged will be prioritised to receive repayments. It is estimated that there are now in the region of 14,000 people within this category, approximately 10,000 of whom have already applied. Provision has been made for applications to be received up to 1 January 2008.

The HSE has advised that offers of repayment commenced in November 2006 and that the first payments issued in December 2006 with further payments continuing on an ongoing basis. The HSE had indicated that almost €20 million has been repaid to date and that the average repayment is approximately €21,000.

A dedicated website, an information phone line and an e-mail facility have been established by the Scheme Administrator to assist the public in accessing claim forms and general information on the scheme. The information line operates between the hours of 9.00am and 6.00pm from Monday to Friday. To date approximately 33,000 call centre queries have been dealt with.