Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the way she expects the resource capping of the new nursing home scheme, currently under consideration in the Houses of Oireachtas, will be applied; the position of those who qualify for the scheme but for whom there are no resources; if their rights under the Health Act 1970 will prevail in such circumstances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42453/08]

Máire Hoctor (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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The existing requirement on the HSE, under the 1970 Health Act as amended, to make available long-term residential care is subject to the overall resources available to the HSE. The new Scheme will also incorporate a resource limit. However, establishing a dedicated and transparent funding stream for the new Scheme will have a number of benefits. The Government will have the opportunity each year to allocate whatever resources it considers appropriate to meet the needs of applicants under the Scheme. It will ensure there is an incentive to seek value for the taxpayer when agreeing prices for nursing home places in both public and private nursing homes. It will highlight the need to avoid inappropriate admissions to long-term care and the importance in that context of continuing to develop and fund alternative community- based support services. It will also allow us to plan better for the long-term care demographic costs facing us as a society.

The resource limit could give rise to waiting lists in a given year but this is also the case with the existing system. The HSE is establishing a central Nursing Home Support Scheme Unit to manage funding for the Scheme and to maintain a national waiting list, if and as necessary. Individuals may also have to wait for a nursing home place for other reasons, for example because they want a particular nursing home or need a particular level or type of care and a suitable bed is not immediately available. The new Nursing Homes Support Scheme will, for the first time, make the arrangements governing financial support for people who need long-term care clear, comprehensive and coherent.