State to pay back €48m it took illegally

THE State is to pay back €48 million it took illegally from the bank and post office accounts of patients in public nursing homes.

It has emerged that homes run by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and former health boards kept the interest gained on accounts which they looked after on behalf of their older clients.

A new repayment scheme for nursing home patients will be set up in the new year, after this fresh scandal arose about money illegally taken from elderly people by the State.