Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 329: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason for the delay in the administration of the health repayment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14263/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Health Repayment Scheme was launched in August 2006 and is administered by the Health Service Executive (HSE) in conjunction with the appointed Scheme Administrator KPMG/McCann Fitzgerald. An extensive radio and newspaper advertising campaign was conducted throughout the country and a major public relations campaign was rolled out focusing in particular on local and regional media.

The HSE has informed the Department that over 26,000 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.

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 has indicated that over €29 million has been repaid to date and that the average repayment is approximately €21,000. Provision has been made for applications to be received up to 31st December 2007.

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 9.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. from Monday to Friday. To date over 41,000 call centre queries have been dealt with.

The HSE have informed me that the scheme has experienced delays due to legal and technical standards which have been set and have meant that the process is more complex than originally envisaged. The development of the IT system has proved more difficult than anticipated given the variety of files being received. To date records from 345 institutions have been scanned. There are a high proportion of application forms with deficient information and the Scheme Administrator advised that it has sent out 6,000 deficiency letters to applicants seeking further required information. The Scheme Administrator is however confident it will deliver all repayments and that people will get paid within the allocated timeframe for the Scheme.