Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Question 51: To ask the Minister for Health if he will reverse the change to the nursing homes support scheme whereby persons who have to enter nursing homes while their applications for payments under the scheme are being considered will have to pay the full cost of care. [32965/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I recently agreed to an amendment to the HSE's National Guidelines for the Standardised Implementation of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme. I agreed to this in order to assist the HSE in managing the scheme more effectively and to ensure its ongoing sustainability. The amendment was agreed subject to assurances from the HSE that:

individuals with complex cases will not be disadvantaged,

average processing times for complete applications should not exceed 4-6 weeks,

geographical location will not disadvantage applicants, and

acute hospitals will not be detrimentally affected, subject to the scheme being operated within the financial resources allocated.

The HSE's Guidelines now state that, subject to overall resources, people who enter nursing homes will have their financial support paid either from the date that the application is approved, or date of admission to the nursing home, whichever is the later.

It should be noted that the amendment will have no retrospective effect, will be reviewed in one year and will only apply to applications received after the 1st October 2011.