asked the Minister for Health whether he will ensure that local authorities, in determining the charge to be made in respect of hospital maintenance, have regard to the fact that the charge of 10/- per day under the Health Act is intended to be the maximum charge, and that, accordingly, the amount to be charged in each case should be properly assessed in respect of the circumstances of the person concerned, including his length of stay in hospital.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Hospital Maintenance Charges.
I presume that the question refers to patients receiving services under Section 15 and not under Section 25 of the Health Act, 1953.
I want to say positively that nothing in the Act, in the regulations made under it or in the instructions issued by my Department, give any grounds for regarding the figure of 10/- a day otherwise than as a maximum. The information available to me indicates that health authorities generally have adopted reasonable standards for the determination of the charges to be made. The responsibility for ensuring that individual cases are properly assessed having regard to all relevant circumstances rests primarily on the local administrative authorities. If, however, the Deputy can supply me with specific instances of Section 15 cases in which, prima facie, payment of the maximum charge of 10/- a day was automatically insisted on, I shall take up the matter with the health authority concerned.