Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 253: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the scheme of refund of pension or payments made to clients of families of persons in long term nursing home type accommodation with the State; if she will provide a summary of work done; the number of cases dealt with; the number of cases with payments made and so on; the number of cases still to be handled or concluded; the number of cases under appeal; the number of staff in the Health Service Executive or outsources still dealing with cases or appeals; when work will be concluded and the scheme closed down; the costs awarded to date ; and the estimate of costs to come; the estimated cost of administration including appeals. [28106/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The Health Service Executive has responsibility for administering the Health Repayment Scheme in association with the appointed Scheme Administrator KPMG accountants and McCann Fitzgerald solicitors.

Almost 35,400 applications have been received under the Scheme and almost 19,200 repayments have been finalised totalling over €430 million. Approximately 40 complex claims remain outstanding and it is expected that these claims will be concluded on a weekly basis.

There are 15-20 staff between the HSE and the Scheme Administrator involved in the Scheme. It is estimated that the total cost of the Scheme will be €465 million, comprising of repayments totalling €438 million and overheads totalling approximately €27 million. Overheads include payments to the Scheme Administrator, HSE administrative costs and the cost of administering the Health Repayment Scheme Appeals Office.

The Health Repayment Scheme Appeals is an independent office established to provide an appeals service to those who wish to appeal the decision of the Scheme Administrator under the Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006. The Health Repayment Scheme Appeals Office was established in December 2006. Up to 18 June 2010, the Appeals Office received 6,014 completed appeal forms and 4,606 decisions have issued. The Appeals Office continues to receive completed appeal forms and it is anticipated that the majority of appeals will be determined before the end of 2010. Two appeals officers have been appointed to consider appeals and the Office has four administrative staff. The cost of administering the Health Repayment Scheme Appeals Office since its establishment in 2006 up to 31 December 2009 was €1.567million.