Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Question 286: To ask the Minister for Health when the fair deal scheme will be fully functional again in view of the fact that inpatient beds are currently being used in various hospitals for patients waiting approval onto the fair deal scheme. [20542/11]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The HSE is currently clearing the backlog of applications that accrued while the Nursing Homes Support Scheme was suspended. Approvals are being issued to those applicants processed to final stage in the chronological order in which they were received in the Central Office in Tullamore. Almost 500 applications were dealt with in June and a further 504 applications have been dealt with since the 1st July. There are approximately 360 further applications awaiting funding approval. It is, therefore, anticipated that the number of delayed discharges in acute hospitals will decrease over the coming weeks. The latest Delayed Discharge Report already shows a reduction in the number of delayed discharges nationally.