HSE told to return nursing home fund’s €100m

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) has been told to plug the hole in the state’s nursing home support scheme by returning to it €100 million of the ring-fenced fund spent elsewhere.

However, it was unclear last night if other areas of the health service would suffer as a result of the clawback, given the money has already been spent.

Yesterday, Health Minister Dr James Reilly said it had become apparent that money earmarked for Fair Deal “was used for ancillary services such as therapies etc, and indeed drugs”, by the HSE, both last year and this year.