Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the average cost per week of a private nursing home stay; the way the cost of this stay is broken down; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24097/10]

Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, the weekly cost of long-term residential care in both public and private nursing homes is published on the HSE's website. Based on this, the average cost of care per week in a private nursing home is €850 for a single room and €844 for a shared room.

In the case of private nursing homes, the National Treatment Purchase Fund has to agree a price for long-term residential care with each private nursing home provider wishing to partake in the scheme. This is a necessary feature of the scheme due to the commitment by the State to meet the full balance of the cost of care over and above a person's contribution.

The services which fall within the scope of long-term residential care and which are covered by this agreed price are:

nursing and personal care appropriate to the level of care needs of the person,

bed and board,

basic aids and appliances necessary to assist a person with the activities of daily living, and

laundry service.

A person who avails of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme should not be charged any additional fee over and above the agreed price, except where he or she chooses to obtain additional services over and above long-term residential care services, for example, hairdressing or the delivery of daily newspapers.

Existing arrangements with regard to the provision of incontinence wear free of charge to residents in public and private nursing homes also remain in place.

A person's eligibility for other schemes, such as the Medical Card Scheme or the Drugs Payment Scheme, is unaffected by the Nursing Homes Support Scheme. In other words, a person can continue to receive goods and services in accordance with the terms of these other schemes regardless of whether they are in a private nursing home or elsewhere.