Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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70. To ask the Minister for Health the total funding allocated under each individual scheme of support for nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic; if he will ensure that this funding is audited and the audit findings will be published; if he will carry out an inquiry into the way that nursing homes performed during the Covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60912/22]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Government has provided substantial supports to the nursing home sector over the course of the pandemic. Over €145 million has been claimed by nursing homes under the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS) since its introduction in 2020. The Government has now agreed to extend TAPS to the end of the year by maintaining the availability of Outbreak Assistance support.

A robust control framework was put in place for the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme, including requirements for validation, review of claims by an external accountancy firm, and provision for all claims to be audited and any misallocated funds clawed back for up to six years following. The thresholds also provided a strong control on costs.

Claims to the scheme were administered by the NTPF (National Treatment Purchase Fund). An external audit has been carried out on behalf of the NTPF for the majority of the period during which TAPS has been operating.

Private and voluntary nursing homes also received a substantial package of non-financial assistance throughout the pandemic, including the provision of almost € 72m of PPE, staff accommodation, training, COVID Response Teams and more. Many of these supports continue. 

The NTPF and the HSE are currently undertaking an audit of payments and a report will be published when this audit is finalised.

In addition, providers of long-term residential care who participate in the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS) can, from 11 November, obtain additional funding supports to help meet increased energy costs due to inflation through the Temporary Inflation Payments Scheme (TIPS). Eligible private and voluntary nursing homes can claim for vouched heating and electricity increases of up to €7,000 per month, with 75% of year-on-year cost increases to be reimbursed up to a maximum payment of €5,250 per month per nursing home. Claims for increased energy costs can be backdated to 1 July 2022 which means that each nursing home can apply for up to €31,500 in vouched energy increases. The aim of the new scheme (TIPS) is to alleviate pressures put on nursing homes by an increase in energy prices. The new scheme will run in parallel with the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS). The Temporary Inflation Payment Scheme will be kept under review and further funding of these supports will be looked at towards the end of this year.  The Scheme is not intended to be allocated on a per resident cost but rather per nursing home in line with their actual increased costs. As designed, TIPS recognises that individual nursing homes may have different existing arrangements in place with energy providers and therefore experience varying cost increases.

In addition to the significant supports put in place for nursing homes during the pandemic, the situation at both a local and a national level was kept under ongoing and active review. An independent Nursing Homes Expert Panel was established early in the pandemic to examine the management of COVID-19 in nursing homes and provide real-time learnings and recommendations to inform the ongoing response. The Expert Panel reported in August 2020 and significant progress has been made in implementing its recommendations.

The Taoiseach has indicated that a comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed COVID-19 will be undertaken which will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with a pandemic over the past 2 years. This will help ensure that we are in a better, stronger position if another pandemic or another similar type of emergency arrives. Consideration is being given as to what the best model for this evaluation will be.  

Separately, the Minister for Health has stated that he believes that a review of the management and impact of COVID-19 in nursing homes is warranted. He has asked the Department of Health to consider the options available for undertaking such a review, taking account of the experience of, and learnings, from other review processes undertaken in recent years.