551. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Health when the Government intends to deliver on its Programme for Government commitment to introduce an equitable funding model or the nursing homes support scheme (fair deal); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54579/26]

In December 2021, the Department published the independently chaired Value for Money (VFM) review on nursing home costs. The VfM Review and the Department of Health response to the findings and recommendations following publication can be found at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-health/publications/a-value-for-money-review-of-nursing-home-care-costs/

The VfM Review made nine recommendations which the Department continues to take forward.

Arising from the VfM Review, a steering group has been established to oversee the delivery of the recommendations from a National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) Review of the Pricing System; this group has met on a regular basis since publication of the review. The group made four recommendations:

• Recommendation 1: formal assessment of using a formulaic approach in the pricing system as set out in Section 4 of the Report.

• Recommendation 2: formal assessment of amending the approach to the assessment of “Local Market Price” to reflect prices within other nursing homes within a certain distance of the nursing home rather than within the same county.

• Recommendation 3: NTPF to engage with nursing homes and their representatives in relation to enhancing the internal NTPF Review process.

• Recommendation 4: amending the process for allowing for high dependency residents when the necessary systems are in place

The delivery of recommendations 1-3 primarily sit with the NTPF. As per the recommendations of the review, the NTPF is reporting periodically to the steering group on progress in implementing the recommendations. It is recognised, however, that recommendation 4 has dependencies going well beyond the scope of the pricing review. This recommendation is therefore being addressed within the broader context of the reform of older persons' services, with appropriate links established between the pricing review steering group (including shared membership) to ensure that appropriate links are made between this recommendation and the others.

Publication of the final report has been placed on hold by the NTPF following legal advice. A decision on next steps will be made following analysis of the final report.

The Government continues to progress its Programme for Government commitment to publish the NTPF review of pricing systems and work towards an equitable funding model for the nursing home sector.