Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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218. To ask the Minister for Health his policy in relation to citizens of the Republic of Ireland who were placed in nursing home care in Northern Ireland under the nursing home subvention scheme; if his Department reviewed their cases per the regulations in place under the National Guidelines, the Nursing Homes (Subvention) Regulations 1993 to 2006 and when it introduced the fair deal scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16529/16]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS) is a system of financial support for those assessed as needing long-term nursing home care. Participants contribute according to their means while the State pays the balance of the cost. In order to be eligible to apply for the Scheme, an applicant must be ordinarily resident in the State. This means that they are living in the State for at least a year or intend to live in the State for at least a year. This statutory-based Scheme replaced the scheme of the Nursing Home Subvention which had been in existence since 1993, and the system of contract beds and long-stay charges in public nursing homes.

Any person who was supported in a private nursing home before the commencement of the NHSS in October 2009 could choose to transfer to the Nursing Homes Support Scheme or retain their existing subvention arrangements. Any person who was in a public or voluntary nursing home or in a contracted bed in a private nursing home before the commencement of the NHSS, likewise could continue with their existing arrangements. The National Guidelines for the Standardised Implementation of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme states that nothing in the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act, 2009 or in the National Guidelines shall operate in a way that diminishes the overall financial position of an applicant in receipt of Nursing Home Subvention, or who is currently in a public nursing home bed, including contract beds.