Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1. Short title, construction, collective citation and commencement.

1.— (1) This Act may be cited as the Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006.

(2) The Health Acts 1947 to 2006 and this Act shall be construed together as one Act and the collective citation “the Health Acts 1947 to 2006” shall include this Act.

(3) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Health and Children may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or provisions.

2. Interpretation.

2.— In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“accept”, in relation to a prescribed repayment, shall be construed in accordance with section16(13);

“act” includes an omission;

F1[‘Agency’means the National Treasury Management Agency established bysection 3of theNational Treasury Management Agency Act 1990;]

“application” means an application under section5(1);

“applicant”, in relation to an application, means the relevant person or connected person who made the application;

F2[…]

F1[‘central treasury services’means central treasury services within the meaning ofsection 18of theNational Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2000;]

“child” includes a step-child;

“connected person”, in relation to a relevant person, means—

(a) a person who has been nominated in writing by the relevant person for the purposes of making an application,

(b) the Registrar of Wards of Court F1[or the county registrar concerned, as the case requires,] if the relevant person is a ward of court,

(c) a person with an enduring power of attorney in respect of the relevant person,

(d) a next friend appointed by a court,

(e) the Executive if—

(i) none of paragraph(a), (b), (c) or (d) is applicable to the relevant person, and

(ii) the relevant person is unable to make an application due to a physical or mental disability or ill-health,

(f) in the case of a relevant person who died on or after 9 December 1998—

(i) the legal personal representative of the estate of the relevant person if a grant of representation has issued in respect of the estate,

(ii) a person entitled to extract such grant of representation if a grant of representation has not issued in respect of the estate, or

(g) a living spouse or living child of the relevant person who has paid, on behalf of the relevant person, the whole or part of the amount referred to in the definition of “recoverable health charge” by virtue of which the relevant person is a relevant person;

“Executive” means the Health Service Executive;

“ex gratia scheme” means that scheme, announced by the Minister on 16 December 2004, whereby ex gratia payments were made to persons in respect of charges paid for in-patient services under—

(a) the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) Regulations 1976 (S.I. No. 180 of 1976) as in force at any time before, on or after they were amended by the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) (Amendment) Regulations 1987 (S.I. No. 300 of 1987), or

(b) the Institutional Assistance Regulations 1954 (S.I. No. 103 of 1954) as in force at any time before, on or after they were amended by the Institutional Assistance Regulations 1965 (S.I. No. 177 of 1965),

when they had full eligibility;

“Fund” has the meaning assigned to it by section 11(1);

“Minister” means the Minister for Health and Children;

“patient’s private property account” means so much of the money and personal property of—

(a) a person provided with in-patient services referred to in section 53 of the Health Act 1970 (as amended by section 4 of the Health (Amendment) Act 2005),

(b) a person provided with institutional assistance under section 54 of the Health Act 1953,

(c) a person in a residence used wholly or partly as a setting to provide care for persons with a physical or mental disability, or

(d) a person otherwise being cared for by, or on behalf of, the Executive due to a physical or mental disability or ill-health,

that is managed, on behalf of that person, by the Executive or by another person under an arrangement with the Executive, whether before, on or after the commencement of section9;

“prescribed cut-off date”, in relation to section5(3)(b), means the date prescribed in regulations made under section20(1)(a) in respect of that section;

“prescribed repayment”, in relation to a recoverable health charge, means a payment under section6(1)(a) or (b) in respect of the recoverable health charge;

“recoverable health charge” means that amount which has been paid of—

(a) a charge imposed on a person with full eligibility under the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) Regulations 1976 (S.I. No. 180 of 1976), as in force at any time before 14 July 2005, including as so in force as amended by the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) (Amendment) Regulations 1987 (S.I. No. 300 of 1987), or

(b) a contribution, for in-patient services only, required of a person with full eligibility under the Institutional Assistance Regulations 1954 (S.I. No. 103 of 1954), as in force at any time on or after the commencement of the Regulations referred to in paragraph (a), including as so in force as amended by the Institutional Assistance Regulations 1965 (S.I. No. 177 of 1965);

“reject”, in relation to a prescribed repayment, shall be construed in accordance with section16(1)(b);

“relevant person”, in relation to a recoverable health charge, means the person referred to in paragraph(a) or (b) of the definition of “recoverable health charge” and whether or not that person was the person who paid all or any of the amount referred to in that definition;

“scheme administrator”—

(a) means, subject to paragraph(b), the Executive,

(b) means, in relation to a provision of this Act the subject of a nomination under section3(2), the person the subject of that nomination;

“specified”, in relation to a form, means specified under section4;

“spouse”, in relation to a relevant person, means a spouse within the meaning of F3[section 3(10)] of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005.

3. Executive may enter into arrangement with person to provide services for purposes of this Act, etc.

3.— (1) The Executive may enter into an arrangement with a person (including any public officer or public body) for the person to provide services, on behalf of the Executive, for the purposes of this Act (including making an application in the Executive’s capacity falling within paragraph(e) of the definition of “connected person” and in relation to the functions imposed under this Act on the Executive in respect of the Fund).

(2) The Executive may, in relation to a provision of this Act, nominate in writing a person who has entered into an arrangement referred to in subsection(1), and subject to such conditions, if any, as the Executive thinks fit and specified in the nomination, to be the scheme administrator in relation to that provision.

4. Power of scheme administrator to specify forms.

4.— (1) Subject to subsection(2), the scheme administrator may specify the form of any document required under this Act to be in the specified form and the form of such other documents required for the purposes of this Act as the scheme administrator thinks fit.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection(1), an application shall contain a summary of—

(a) the purpose of the application, and

(b) the consequences of the determination of the application under section6(1)(a), (b) or (c) (including the right to appeal under section16(1) against a decision under section6(1)(a), (b) or (c)).

(3) A form specified under this section shall be—

(a) completed in accordance with such directions and instructions as are specified in the form,

(b) subject to subsection(4), accompanied by such documents (including instruments, certificates, duplicates of the form and statutory declarations) as are specified in the form, and

(c) if the completed form is required to be provided to the scheme administrator or any other person, so provided in the manner, if any, specified in the form.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection(2)(b), an application made by an applicant falling within paragraph(e) of the definition of “connected person” and that is in respect of a living relevant person shall be accompanied by a certificate in a form specified under this section—

(a) issued by a registered medical practitioner who has examined the relevant person not earlier than 6 months before the date on which the application was signed,

(b) stating—

(i) the date of the examination, and

(ii) that, in the opinion of the practitioner, the relevant person—

(I) is of sufficient capacity to understand the summary referred to in subsection(2), or

(II) is not of sufficient capacity to understand the summary referred to in subsection(2),

and

(c) signed by the practitioner.

(5) The scheme administrator’s power under subsection(1)—

(a) shall be exercised in such a way as to require the person completing the form to make a statutory declaration as to whether the particulars contained in the form are true and correct to the best of that person’s knowledge and belief,

(b) may be exercised in such a way as to specify 2 or more forms of any document referred to in that subsection, whether as alternatives, or to provide for particular circumstances or particular cases, as the scheme administrator thinks fit.

PART 2 Repayment Scheme

5. Application for prescribed repayment.

5.— (1) A relevant person or a connected person may make an application in the specified form to the scheme administrator for a prescribed repayment in respect of a recoverable health charge.

(2) The scheme administrator may refuse to consider or further consider an application if—

(a) the application does not comply with subsection(1), or

(b) the applicant fails to provide the scheme administrator with such information in addition to the information provided by or with the application as the scheme administrator may reasonably require to enable the scheme administrator to determine the application under section6.

(3) The scheme administrator shall refuse to consider an application made on or after—

(a) 1 January 2008, or

(b) the prescribed cut-off date,

whichever is the later.

6. Determination of application.

6.— (1) Subject to subsection(2), the scheme administrator shall determine an application—

(a) if the scheme administrator is satisfied—

(i) that the applicant is entitled under this Act to make the application,

(ii) that the purported recoverable health charge to which the application relates is a recoverable health charge, whether in whole or in part, and

(iii) as to the amount (“eligible amount”) of that purported recoverable health charge which is a recoverable health charge,

by causing a payment, equivalent to the sum of the eligible amount and the interest, if any, payable by virtue of regulations made under section20(1)(b) which are applicable to this paragraph, to be made as soon as is practicable,

(b) if the scheme administrator is—

(i) satisfied that the applicant is entitled under this Act to make the application,

(ii) satisfied that the purported recoverable health charge to which the application relates is a recoverable health charge, whether in whole or in part, and

(iii) not satisfied, for whatever reason, as to the amount of that purported recoverable health charge which is a recoverable health charge,

by causing a payment to be made, as soon as is practicable—

(I) subject to subparagraph(II), by reference to the income the relevant person had, the type of in-patient the relevant person was or the type of institutional assistance the relevant person received, as the case may be, and the nature of the charge imposed on, or the contribution required of, the relevant person, during the period in which the relevant person was an in-patient for the purposes of the regulations referred to in paragraph(a) or (b) of the definition of “recoverable health charge”,

(II) if the information referred to in subparagraph(I) is not available and subject to subparagraph(III), that does not exceed 80 per cent of the maximum of the weekly rate of the old age (non-contributory) pension, within the meaning of the Social Welfare Acts, as applicable during the period to which the recoverable health charge relates,

(III) that takes into account the interest, if any, payable by virtue of regulations made under section20(1)(b) which are applicable to this paragraph,

(c) if neither paragraph(a) nor (b) applies, by refusing the application.

(2) Where the scheme administrator, not being the Executive, determines an application pursuant to subsection(1)(a) or (b), then, subject to section16(12), the Executive shall make the prescribed repayment concerned as soon as is practicable.

7. Priority of living relevant persons over estates of relevant persons.

7.— The scheme administrator shall—

(a) in considering and determining applications, and

(b) in causing prescribed repayments to be made,

give priority to living relevant persons over the estates of relevant persons.

8. Operation of other enactments, etc. on prescribed repayments.

8.— (1) A prescribed repayment—

(a) made to a living relevant person, or

(b) made directly to a living spouse or living child of a relevant person by virtue of section9(8),

shall be disregarded for the purposes of income tax assessment under the Income Tax Acts within the meaning of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.

(2) A prescribed repayment—

(a) made to a living relevant person,

(b) made to the spouse or former spouse of a living or deceased relevant person, or

(c) made directly to a living child of a relevant person by virtue of section9(8),

shall be disregarded in the assessment under any enactment of a person’s means for the purposes of determining, assessing or reviewing (or any words to the like effect) a person’s entitlement, or level of entitlement, to a health or social welfare benefit (including any subvention to be applied towards any such benefit).

(3) A prescribed repayment made in respect of a recoverable health charge shall not of itself be a ground for withdrawing any tax relief previously granted in respect of the recoverable health charge.

(4) A prescribed repayment made to any person shall be disregarded for the purposes of Chapter 1 of Part VI of the Finance Act 1993.

(5) Section 48(4) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 shall not apply to a prescribed repayment.

(6) Without prejudice to any other method of recovery—

(a) any payments made to or in respect of a relevant person under the ex gratia scheme, or

(b) any charge imposed under the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) Regulations 2005 (S.I. No. 276 of 2005) on a relevant person and which has not been paid,

may be offset against any prescribed repayment to be made to or in respect of that relevant person.

9. Payment of prescribed repayments and operation of patients’ private property accounts, etc.

9.— (1) Subject to subsection(3), the Executive may pay a prescribed repayment—

(a) into the relevant person’s bank, building society, credit union or post office account or by cheque,

(b) in the case of a living relevant person, into the relevant person’s patient’s private property account.

(2) The Executive—

(a) may invest money—

(i) held in any patient’s private property account—

(I) unless otherwise directed in writing by the account holder, or

(II) unless otherwise directed in writing by a next friend appointed by a court,

and

F4[(ii) as follows:

F5[(I) with a financial institution authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland;]

(II) in securities of the Government (including savings certificates); or

(III) in securities guaranteed as to capital and interest by the Minister for Finance,]

(b) may use money held in any patient’s private property account for the benefit of the account holder—

(i) unless otherwise directed in writing by the account holder, or

(ii) unless otherwise directed in writing by a next friend appointed by a court,

F6[…]

(c) may, in respect of the patients’ private property accounts of all or some of the account holders residing in the same hospital or other institution, make an application, not more than once in each calendar year, to a judge of the Circuit Court in whose circuit the hospital or other institution, as the case may be, is situated, for directions as to how the Executive may use any money in excess of €5,000 or the amount prescribed in regulations made under section20(1)(c), whichever is the greater, in any of those accounts for the benefit of the account holder in whose patient’s private property account the excess is F4[lodged, and]

F7[(d) may deposit moneys held in any patient’s private property account, unless otherwise directed in writing by the account holder or a next friend appointed by a court, in central treasury services,

(e) may request the Agency to manage some or all of the moneys in patients’private property accounts subject to such conditions as the Executive and the Agency may agree to from time to time,