Minister for Health James Reilly has said approvals under the Fair Deal nursing home support scheme will resume next Monday.
The €62m funding to allow the resumption of approvals under the scheme is to be provided through increased charges for long-stay nursing home patients, cuts in recent increased payments to private nursing homes and savings from efficiencies in non-service areas in the Health Service Executive.
Provision is being made for 24,000 people to be covered under the scheme by the end of the year, which allows for a net increase of 1,700 new applications this year.
Around 400 nursing home places come available each month due to the death of residents, which is 4,800 places each year.
Currently there are 2,200 people waiting to get into the scheme.
The breakdown of how the €62m in funding is to be secured is: €30m in non-service area savings in the HSE, €12m in increased charges for long-stay nursing home residents who are covered by pre Fair Deal arrangements and a renegotiation of recent increased payments to private nursing homes, which resulted in an extra cost of €20m a year.
Last month, the HSE put a freeze on new applicants after it was revealed that €100m intended to fund the scheme was diverted elsewhere. Over 4,500 applicants are awaiting approval.
Today, Minister Reilly said a report he received into how the scheme has been funded was not as comprehensive as he would have liked.
He added that he may call in external auditors to conduct an inquiry.
Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher welcomed that scheme is to re-open but said the way the matter was handled by the Government was very worrying.
He also questioned if there was a need to suspend the programme in the first place.
Sinn Féin's Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said it was clear that the report in the funding shortfall commissioned by the minister has not provided full clarity to the matter.
He said there are hundreds of people who should be in nursing homes who are languishing in hospital beds.
Meanwhile, Older & Bolder welcomed the assurance the Minister gave to the 2,200 older people who are awaiting transfer to nursing homes under the Fair Deal Nursing Home Support Scheme that they will be accommodated.
Older & Bolder have said that the Minister indicated that the 500 people who are experiencing a 'delayed discharge' in an acute hospital setting would be given priority.
