David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 205: To ask the Minister for Health and Children further to Parliamentary Question No. 284 of 9 February 2010, the number of claims concluded and repayments issued respectively under the Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006 to date; the number of cases in which funds have been deposited into patient private property accounts and the amounts deposited respectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43031/10]

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

A total of 35,406 claims have been received for the scheme. Just under 35,400 or 99.9 % of all claims have been concluded. To date nearly 19,500 repayments of charges to the value of €438m have been processed under the Scheme. This includes 4,515 repayments deposited to patient private property accounts valued at €116m. The remaining claims are being progressed currently and it is expected that these will be finalised very shortly.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 206: To ask the Minister for Health and Children further to Parliamentary Question No. 41 of 11 February 2010, if moneys lodged to a patient's private property account can be accessed by the Health Service Executive for use for the benefit of that patient; if other representatives such as parents of the patient can apply for access to moneys in the patient's private property account to purchase equipment or health or other services for the patient; if so, the way this can be done; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43032/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Under the Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006, a relevant person or a connected person as defined in the Act was entitled to apply for a repayment under the scheme.

A relevant person is a person who was charged and paid recoverable health charges.

A connected person includes the following: (a ) a person who has been nominated in writing by the relevant person (b ) the Registrar of Wards of Court if the relevant person is a ward of court, (c ) a person with an enduring power of attorney in respect of the relevant person, (d ) a next friend appointed by a court, (e ) the HSE if none of the aforementioned is applicable to the relevant person, and the relevant person is unable to make an application due to a physical or mental disability or ill-health, (f ) a living spouse or living child of the relevant person who has paid recoverable health charges on behalf of the relevant person.

In regard to patients in the care of the HSE who were deemed by a medical practitioner not to have sufficient mental capacity to understand the scheme and for whom there was no other connected person as defined in the legislation, the HSE made application to the Scheme Administrator for a repayment on their behalf. As provided for in the legislation, all such payments made in respect of HSE applications were lodged to the patient's own private property account. The legislation also provides that an application may be made to a judge of the Circuit Court for the repayment to be made otherwise than to the patient's private property account.

Where monies have been lodged to a patient's private property account, the HSE ensures that this money is used only for the benefit of the patient. All funds held in a patient's private property account are the property of that patient and are retained for the exclusive use of the patient. The HSE is always happy to involve interested family members in the management of each patient's finances, so as to ensure that the patient's available funds are used to best effect in providing benefit to the patient concerned.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 207: To ask the Minister for Health and Children further to Parliamentary Question No. 41 of 11 February 2010 regarding moneys lodged to a patient's private property account, if these moneys transfer to the patient's next of kin in the event of the death of a patient; if not, to whom any such moneys would transfer; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43033/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Funds of a deceased patient are passed to the patient's Legal Personal Representative for them to administer the estate of the deceased faithfully according to the law.

This question is addressed at length in the Patients Private Property Guidelines which sets out the procedures to be followed in operating these Patient Private Property accounts.