Harney ‘had no choice over fees action’

TÁNAISTE Mary Harney last night again defended her decision to fight the repayment of nursing home charges in at least two cases - saying claims for damages had forced her hand.

In two cases taken by the families of nursing home patients, the State has denied it has any obligation to repay charges.

This stance comes despite a Supreme Court ruling last year that charges made to patients at public nursing homes were illegal.

Following the ruling, the Tánaiste said that repayments would be made as promptly as possible.

Last week, a spokesman for the Department of Health said the defence was mounted in relation to private nursing home cases and not public. But last night he said the department was forced to defend the cases as the families had sought punitive damages.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny yesterday said that the Tánaiste must explain her “dishonest defence”.

“She and the Government cannot say one thing in public and another to the courts. In the defence they submitted, the Tánaiste and her co-defendants deny any liability. They deny the illegality of charges. They deny that any monies were taken. They deny the entitlement to restitution.

“The statements made by the Tánaiste and her co-defendants are completely at odds with the Supreme Court ruling,” he said.

Fine Gael councillor and Cork solicitor, Colm Burke accused the Government of trying to slow down the court cases because it hadn’t put a process in place to administer the repayment of charges. He added that it was “standard practice” to file for punitive damages.

Responding to criticism from Fine Gael in the Dáil yesterday, Minister Noel Dempsey said the Government was confident that the repayment system would be in place by the summer.

Meanwhile, the Irish Nursing Homes Organisation has published minimum standards to ensure proper care for all nursing home residents, saying that current legislation is “totally inadequate and outdated”.

INHO chief executive Tadhg Daly said the current regulations were vague and allowed for “inconsistent interpretation” on what standards of care should apply.

“Not only has care of the elderly been historically under-funded in Ireland, the current legislation (1990 Nursing Homes Act) has not been reviewed for 15 years. The Government promised to introduce up to date legislation last year and it has not yet been delivered,” he said.

“Furthermore, the public sector, which accounts for 40% of all long-term beds, is not currently subject to legislative control and is not inspected. We believe that all nursing homes, both public and private, should be inspected under new, updated legislation, and subjected to the same set of standards.”