Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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1020. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated cost to of extending the remit of the Public Services Ombudsman to cover all nursing homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21178/20]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Policy in relation to the assignment of functions under the Ombudsman Act 1980 is a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, in consultation with other relevant Departments as appropriate.

This Department has made enquiries with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, which advises that the Ombudsman can currently examine complaints about the HSE and agencies delivering health and personal social services on behalf of the HSE and that, since August 2015, the Ombudsman’s remit was extended to enable him to deal with complaints relating to the administrative actions of private nursing homes.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has further informed this Department that it is advised by the Office of the Ombudsman that a very small number of private nursing homes may be outside of the Ombudsman’s remit as they have no Fair Deal residents in their care and that there would be no cost implications should those nursing homes happen to come within the Ombudsman’s remit in the future.