Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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590. To ask the Minister for Health the reason for the delay in publishing the review of the fair deal nursing home support scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30267/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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When the NHSS commenced in 2009, a commitment was made that it would be reviewed after three years. The reason for allowing this period to elapse was to ensure that the scheme had bedded in, and that established and validated trends and statistics would be available in order to inform the work of the review. In addition, the Programme for Government 2011-2016 committed to reviewing the ‘Fair Deal’ system of financing nursing home care with a view to developing a secure and equitable system of financing for community and long-term care which supports older people to stay in their own homes and communities for as long as possible.

The Terms of Reference for the review were taking account of Government policy, demographic trends and the fiscal situation: 1. To examine the on-going sustainability of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme; 2. To examine the overall cost of long-term residential care in public and private nursing homes and the effectiveness of the current methods of negotiating/setting prices; 3. Having regard to 1. and 2. above, to consider the balance of funding between long-term residential care and community based services; 4. To consider the extension of the scheme to community based services and to other sectors (Disability and Mental Health); and 5. To make recommendations for the future operation and management of the scheme.

The review was led by the Department of Health, in collaboration with the HSE, and with input and analysis provided by Deloitte and Touche Consultants on specific issues that required specialised expertise.

The Department of Health carried out an extensive public consultation before commencing the review. The review examines five main areas: the scheme administration and processes; the price of care in private and public nursing homes; the re-orientation of services for older people towards the community; the provision of adequate long-term residential care places; and financing of long-term care in the future.

The Review took longer to complete than was originally expected because it required a greater degree of detailed analysis and its scope turned out to be broader than was initially expected. However, it is now complete and will be published very shortly.