Written answers

Thursday, 21 October 2010

Department of Health and Children

Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme

5:00 pm

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 93: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the amount paid to the scheme administrator since the enactment of the health repayment scheme 2006; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38234/10]

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 94: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the legal practitioners involved in the administration of the health repayment scheme; the amount that has been spent on their services to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38236/10]

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 97: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of applications to date that have been refused under the health repayment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38244/10]

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 108: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the amount the health repayment scheme has cost to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38337/10]

Photo of Mary HarneyMary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 93, 94, 97 and 108 together.

Under the provisions of the Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006, the Health Service Executive appointed an external service provider to act as Scheme Administrator for the Health Repayment Scheme. The service provider is a consortium comprising of KPMG Accountants and McCann Fitzgerald Solicitors.

As per the contract agreement with the Scheme Administrator the HSE make payments to the consortium on foot of invoices received from KPMG Accountants and payments are payable to KPMG Accountants on behalf of the consortium.

A total of €15.2m (inc VAT) has been paid to the Scheme Administrator since the commencement of the scheme in August 2006 and this amount is within the contract price agreed at the commencement of the scheme.

35,405 application forms have been received under the Health Repayment Scheme. Of the applications received under the scheme, it is estimated that the number of valid claims will be approximately 21,400.

To date 35,390 or 99% of applications have been concluded. 21,375 claimants have received an offer of repayment and the value of these offers is €440m. A further 14,015 applications have been rejected under the scheme.

The main reasons for the rejection of claims are as follows: - Person resided in a long stay facility that falls outside the ambit of the scheme - Person did not pay recoverable health charges as per the Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006 - Duplicate claims received by the Scheme Administrator - Person died before the 9th December 1998 - Claim withdrawn

The cost of the Health Repayment Scheme to date is €462.4m.

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 95: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the average waiting time for a decision on an appeal made under the health repayment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38237/10]

Photo of Mary HarneyMary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The Health Repayment Scheme Appeals Office 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 current average time between the receipt of a completed Appeal Form and the making of an Appeals Officer's decision is 174 working days. However the time taken in any individual case depends on the complexity of that case. It is anticipated that the majority of appeals will be determined by early 2011.

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