Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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1240. To ask the Minister for Health the date on which the external audit of temporary assistance payments scheme to nursing homes was received by the NTPF; the cost of this audit to date; the findings of the audit; if it has been received by his Department; if so, the date on which it was received; if he will publish this audit in full; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63527/22]

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 2022 by maintaining the availability of Outbreak Assistance support and the scheme is currently under review.

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).

As part of the 2020 Internal Audit Plan, Mazars was requested to perform an internal audit review of the process and controls surrounding the management of the administration of the scheme performed by NTPF and KPMG. The focus of this audit consisted primarily of the governance and management of the administration of the scheme.

The NTPF reports that the audit was completed in February 2021 and carried a total cost of c. €6,350. In accordance with the classification of audit opinion, audit results indicate that Substantial Assurance can be placed on the on the sufficiency and operation of internal controls to mitigate and/or manage one or more of those key inherent risks to which the financial activities are exposed.

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.

As previously advised, the NTPF and the HSE are currently undertaking an audit of payments (in addition to the internal audit as mentioned above) and a report will be published when this audit is finalised. This audit is in progress.