Public services face cuts to pay for nursing home fees blunder

THE Government refused to rule out cuts in public services after it was presented with a €500 million compensation bill for overcharging nursing home patients and their families.

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday the State illegally deducted money from patients’ pensions to pay for their care. The final figure could be far higher, however, as the cost was calculated only for the last six years.

The practice was carried on continuously since 1970 and the State was first warned it was unlawful 29 years ago.

Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney last night admitted she was facing a massive bill which she warned would have to be met by the taxpayer and could force cuts in other public services.

“Clearly it’s going to have huge financial implications, certainly in excess of €500m,” she said.

“It’s more than the price of a new hospital for Crumlin or the Mater.”

The giant payout follows a ruling from the Supreme Court yesterday that the State was wrong to take pensioners’ welfare payments as a charge for their care in public nursing homes and acted unconstitutionally in rushing through legislation last December to try to legalise the practice retrospectively.

Ms Harney said she yesterday she would set up a compensation scheme to spare patients the ordeal of going to court. She also she would set a time limit for refunds based on what was “fair and possible.”

Some 60,000 people were illegally charged over the past six years but the number affected over 29 years period runs to 275,000.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny who first raised the issue in the Dáil said serious questions remained about the way the Tánaiste and her predecessor, Micheál Martin, handled the affair.

Potentially embarrassing revelations are expected when former senior public servant John Travers submits his report on his inquiry into the scandal in the next few weeks.

However, a simple compensation scheme may not bring the matter to a swift end, as legal proceedings were already begun on behalf of a number of patients prior to the ruling and some solicitors believe patients who used private nursing homes because they were refused public care are also due compensation.

Cork solicitor, Colm Burke, who has prepared claims for 50 clients said he will press on with the cases.

“My attitude is to continue on with the work we have been instructed to do until such time as we see what the Government’s proposals are,” he said. “I am not going to put my clients’ cases at risk for something that might turn out to be less than it appears.”