Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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278. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost of the current levels of nursing home care provided through the public health system. [27800/20]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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279. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost of the subsidies paid to private nursing homes. [27801/20]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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280. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost of the fair deal scheme. [27802/20]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 279 and 280 together.

The Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS), commonly referred to as Fair Deal, is a system of financial support for people who require long-term residential care. Participants contribute to the cost of their care according to their means while the State pays the balance of the cost. The Scheme aims to ensure that long-term nursing home care is accessible and affordable for everyone and that people are cared for in the most appropriate settings.

In 2020, the NHSS saw a further investment in its budget, to bring it to €1.07bn for the year. This significant investment will provide ongoing long-term residential care over the course of 2020 ensuring that the Scheme continues to deliver affordable and accessible nursing home care for our citizens with long-term care needs.

Separately, as part of package of support measures for nursing homes, my Department established a COVID-19 Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS), which opened for applications on 17th April 2020. The core concept of the scheme is that the State will provide additional funding to those nursing homes that require it, to contribute towards costs associated with COVID-19 preparedness, mitigation and outbreak management. The scheme was originally devised to operate for a 3-month period to the end of June, this scheme was extended to the end of September. The scheme is now being further extended to the end of 2020 and for the first 6 months of 2021 (end June 2021).

As the Deputy's question regarding the estimated full-year cost of the current levels of nursing home care provided through the public health system relates to service matters I have arranged for his correspondence to be referred to the HSE for consideration and direct reply to him.