THE EXAMINATION of the funding of the Fair Deal nursing home scheme will be completed on Friday, Minister of State for Health Kathleen Lynch has revealed.

She said 4,604 applications had been processed under the scheme but could not be approved until funding was available.

“The main priority, at this stage, is to establish what steps might be taken to allow more people to benefit from the scheme,” she added.

It emerged last month that €100 million earmarked for the scheme had been diverted elsewhere.

Ms Lynch said items were paid out of the subhead which should not have been paid for in that way. “We are not saying anybody made off with the money, as it was spent in nursing homes on people who needed the services,” she added.

Fianna Fáil spokesman on health Billy Kelleher said the matter had been badly handled in terms of notifying the public.

“It happened in a drip-drip manner and there was concern, fear and anxiety generated among people dependent on nursing home care or who had applied for nursing home care,” he added.

Sinn Féin health spokesman Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said many older people and their families were very concerned about the scheme’s future.

Ms Lynch said she agreed that people were very concerned, adding there was no threat to the 22,000 people in receipt of long-term care. “When we get the money in order to grant approval to those who deserve it, we will issue grants of approval,” she said.

Mr Ó Caoláin said close on 500 older people were in acute hospital beds awaiting approval for nursing home beds. “In other words, there is a very serious hold-up in the freeing up of very important acute hospital beds because of this debacle,” he said.