Minister for Health James Reilly has corrected the record of the Dáil about mistaken figures he gave six months ago for the number of people in nursing homes in receipt of financial support from the State.
Dr Reilly said the figure of 22,277 people receiving financial support, the so-called Fair Deal scheme, had been given to him by the HSE. "My department estimated should be almost 24,000 people in receipt of financial support by year end."
He told the Dáil: "However it now transpires the figure provided by the HSE included all public beds as opposed to bed occupants and the figure therefore was overstated."
At the end of October, 21,474 people were receiving financial support towards the cost of long-term nursing home care. Dr Reilly stressed that the number of people getting financial assistance had not decreased since June. "Rather, more accurate information has been received in the intervening period," he said.
Apologising for the error, he said the 21,474 figure "includes people in receipt of financial support under the nursing home support scheme, people in receipt of subvention, people in contract beds and people paying in-patient charges in public nursing homes".
Since the incorrect figure was given, the HSE has fully implemented a new ICT system across all nursing home support offices. "This has been fully operational since the end of October and means more detailed timely management information is now available," the Minister added.
