Opposition parties have criticised the fact that new legislation which has been drafted to underpin the nursing home subvention payments scheme does not include details of how applicants for the payment who are turned down can appeal.
The Health Nursing Homes Amendment Bill 2006 instead leaves it up to the Health Service Executive (HSE) to draw up guidelines for an appeals process once the legislation is enacted.
Dr Liam Twomey, Fine Gael's health spokesman, claimed at the joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children yesterday that when the legislation is enacted, probably later this year, the effect will be that the existing appeals process for subvention applicants will come to an end and there will be no appeals process in place.
Minister of State with responsibility for the elderly Seán Power said the legislation put an obligation on the HSE to draw up guidelines for a new appeals process.
However, Labour's health spokeswoman Liz McManus said there was no timeframe within which the HSE had to draw up those guidelines.
"Are you aware the HSE is not known for its speed on delivering on anything. Are you aware we are still waiting six months for answers to parliamentary questions?" she asked the Minister.
Mr Power said the HSE would itself be anxious to have clear guidelines in place quickly. However, he said it would be inappropriate for him to give a guarantee that HSE guidelines would be in place when the new legislation came into force.
Ms McManus asked what would happen to people "caught in the middle" while waiting for the new appeals process to be put in place.
Mr Power accused her of trying to frighten people. He stressed the purpose of the Bill was to ensure the existing subvention scheme which aims to help people foot their bills for private nursing home care was grounded in primary legislation and implemented on a standardised basis across the country.