Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 271: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason for delays in making repayments under the scheme for repayments to those illegally charged for their stay in nursing homes; the reason in particular, that of the 70,000 persons estimated to be owed a refund and the 30,000 who have made applications, only 6,000 persons have received repayments; if she has satisfied herself with the operation of the scheme by the private sector consortium appointed for the purpose; if there are performance criteria included in the contract with that consortium by reference to which their fees can be reduced or penalty payments imposed; if not, the reason for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22661/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Health Service Executive (HSE) has responsibility for administering the health repayment scheme in conjunction with the appointed scheme administrator KPMG/McCann Fitzgerald. This contract between the HSE and the scheme administrator is for a two year period and expires in July 2008. The HSE has informed my Department that performance indicators and penalty provisions apply to the scheme administrator in respect of this contract and penalty provisions will be applied by the HSE as required.

The scheme is progressing as speedily as possible and every effort is being made to complete repayments. The HSE has indicated that the delays in making repayments under the scheme have been due to legal and technical issues. Firstly, over 13,400 estates who lodged claims to date had not extracted a grant of representation in respect of the estate of the deceased patient. In these instances the person entitled to extract the grant of representation has to be identified before an application can be processed and to date over 6,600 certificates of entitlement permitting individuals to apply for a repayment have issued. Secondly, there has been a high incidence of claimants providing insufficient information and these claims have taken longer to process as the scheme administrator must be provided with certain information in order to ensure that the correct person and correct amount is repaid. Thirdly, it has been necessary for the scheme administrator to visit over 330 HSE facilities to scan records which form the basis for the calculation of repayments. The format in which this information is held varies widely between institutions and usually includes a mixture of paper files, handwritten files and computer files.

The HSE is monitoring the operation of the repayment scheme and has agreed a range of initiatives with the scheme administrator to speed up the repayment process. The closing date for receipt of applications is 31st December 2007 and I have been informed by the HSE that final repayments should be made by mid 2008.