16.— (1) Ancillary State support may, in accordance with this section, be paid to or in respect of a person—

(a) who has made an application for State support,

(b) in respect of whom a financial assessment has been carried out, and

(c) unless the Executive otherwise determines, with effect on and from, but not prior to, a determination by the Executive that ancillary State support be paid in respect of such person.

(2) Ancillary State support may be paid to or in respect of a person referred to in subsection (1) notwithstanding the fact that State support is not being paid to or in respect of that person.

(3) (a) Ancillary State support shall not be paid to or in respect of a person unless that person (or a care representative of such person) requests that such ancillary State support be paid.

(b) Where the person in respect of whom a request for payment of ancillary State support is made is a member of a couple, the request for payment of such ancillary State support shall be made by both members of the couple (or a care representative of such person).

(4) The request for payment of ancillary State support shall be made in the specified form which form shall incorporate an acknowledgement that payment of ancillary State support results in the creation of a charge in favour of the Executive (which by virtue of this Act is deemed to be a mortgage made by deed) against the interest of the person to whom the payment relates and of the partner of that person in such land as is specified in the request for payment of ancillary State support.

(5) (a) The Executive may make payment of ancillary State support to or in respect of a person by reference to the assessed weekly value of relevant assets which are chargeable assets.

(b) The Executive may not make payment of ancillary State support in relation to an asset which is not a chargeable asset comprised in the assessed weekly value of relevant assets of the person concerned.

(6) The amount of ancillary State support which may be advanced by the Executive to a person shall be computed in accordance with subsections (5), (7) and (12).

(7) (a) The monies advanced by the Executive by way of ancillary State support shall be advanced on the basis of weekly instalments.

(b) The amount of such weekly instalment in relation to a person shall not exceed that part of the annual assessed relevant assets amount relating to the chargeable assets of that person divided by 52.

(c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b), the weekly instalment of ancillary State support may be advanced on such periodic basis (not exceeding 2 months) as is specified in writing by the Minister.

(8) Monies advanced by the Executive by way of ancillary State support in respect of care services for the person to whom the application for State support relates and which are advanced in accordance with section 18 shall be deemed to have been paid to and for the benefit of the person who or on whose behalf the request for such ancillary State support was made or, in the case of a person who is a member of a couple, to and for the benefit of both members of the couple.

(9) Where monies are advanced by way of ancillary State support which by reason of subsection (8) are deemed to have been advanced to both members of the couple, the liability of the members of the couple in relation to such advances shall be joint and several.

(10) (a) Subject to section 42, it shall be a condition of the payment of ancillary State support that the monies advanced by the Executive in respect of such support shall not become repayable prior to the occurrence of a relevant event or a deferred relevant event.

(b) Nothing in paragraph (a) shall prevent the voluntary repayment of monies advanced by the Executive by way of ancillary State support prior to the occurrence of a relevant event or a deferred relevant event.

(11) The amount repayable in respect of ancillary State support shall be the aggregate of monies advanced by the Executive by way of ancillary State support adjusted in accordance with Schedule 2 together with interest, if any, computed in accordance with subsection (15).

(12) The amount of a weekly instalment advanced in respect of ancillary State support or, in a case where a request has been made that ancillary State support be paid in relation to the same person in respect of more than one chargeable asset, the aggregate of weekly instalments of ancillary State support advanced in relation to the same person, shall not exceed the amount produced by the application of the following formula:

T - (A+B+R+S)

where—

T is the total weekly cost of care services applicable to the person concerned,

A is the assessed weekly income of the person concerned,

B is the assessed weekly cash assets of the person concerned,

R is the assessed weekly value of the relevant assets of the person concerned and which are not chargeable assets, and

S is the amount of State support payable in respect of the person concerned.

(13) Where a relevant asset of a person who receives care services or of the partner of such a person, or of both of them, ceases to be a chargeable asset for a reason not related to paragraph (a) of the definition of “chargeable asset” in section 15—

(a) the person (or the person’s care representative, if any) or, if applicable, the partner of such person (or the partner’s care representative, if any) shall, as soon as is practicable after the occurrence of such cesser but, in any case, not later than 10 working days after the occurrence of such cesser, give notice in writing to the Executive of the cesser and the date on which it occurred, and

(b) the Executive shall cease to make payments of such part of ancillary State support which relates to the former chargeable asset.

(14) The Executive may, following a review of a financial assessment under section 30, alter the amount of ancillary State support paid in respect of a person under this section.

(15) Where the Executive makes payments to or on behalf of a person by way of ancillary State support and, as the case may be, a relevant event or a deferred relevant event occurs, interest shall accrue on the amount which is the aggregate of the amounts advanced by way of ancillary State support adjusted in accordance with Schedule 2, which interest shall be calculated in accordance with regulations made under section 36 for the purposes of this subsection.

(16) The Executive shall, not later than 10 working days after making a determination under this section that an application for payment of ancillary State support be refused or a determination of the amount of ancillary State support to be advanced, give notice in writing of the decision and the reasons for the decision to each person who made the application.

(17) (a) The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of this section prescribing circumstances in which a person who is a member of a couple is not required to make a request for payment of ancillary State support.

(b) Regulations made under this subsection may provide for—

(i) the making of applications to the Minister for a decision by the Minister dispensing with the requirement in that case for the request for ancillary State support to be made by both members of a couple, and

(ii) the matters to be taken into consideration by the Minister in considering such applications.

(18) The Minister shall not make a decision pursuant to regulations made under subsection (17) dispensing with the requirement for a request for payment of ancillary State support by one member of a couple unless he or she is satisfied that the person who would otherwise be required to make such request for ancillary State support has no interest in the asset to which the application relates.

(19) The Minister shall not make a decision dispensing with the requirement for a request for ancillary State support to be made by a person in respect of more than one member of a couple.