Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 174: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of applications received under the nursing home repayment scheme from applicants with an intellectual disability or their representatives; the number of such applications which were submitted by Health Service Executive staff; the number of these applications approved to date; the number on hand; the number who have appealed the offer made to them; the success rate of same; the number who have appealed the rejection of their application; and the success rate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28840/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Health Service Executive has responsibility for administering the health repayment scheme in conjunction with the appointed scheme administrator, KPMG/McCann Fitzgerald. The Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006 provides a clear legal framework to repay recoverable health charges for publicly funded long-term residential care. Recoverable health charges are charges which were imposed on persons with full eligibility under the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) Regulations 1976 as amended in 1987, or charges for in-patient services only, raised under the Institutional Assistance Regulations 1954, as amended in 1965. Applications received under the scheme are processed within this legal framework. Specific details on certain cohorts of applicants, such as those outlined by the Deputy, are not available. However, in terms of the overall scheme almost 39,000 applications have been received, 7,500 of which were submitted by the HSE on behalf of patients.

The HSE has informed my Department that up to 27 June last, 11,483 payments totalling over €229 million have issued while 15,299 offers of repayment totalling over €271 million have been made. Approximately 6,000 claims are outstanding and they are being concluded on a daily basis. The Health Repayment Scheme Appeals Office has advised my Department that as of 27 June 2008, 810 applicants (approximately 5% of all offers made) have indicated they wish to appeal the amount offered by the scheme administrator. The Appeals Office has received a total of 2,694 appeal forms under the scheme from applicants who wished to appeal a rejection under the scheme. Of these appeals 1,418 decisions have issued and 1,285 decisions agree with the decision of the scheme administrator to reject a claim. In 133 cases the Appeals Officer has disagreed with the decision of the scheme administrator to reject a claim. Of the 293 appeals officer decisions which have issued in relation to amount appeals, 112 have agreed with the amount offered by the scheme administrator and 181 have disagreed with the amounts offered by the scheme administrator.