Committee meeting over €500m compensation bill

A new Cabinet sub-committee meets tomorrow to discuss how to dole out more than €500m to as many as 275,000 people illegally charged in nursing homes.

Health minister Mary Harney told the Dáil today that it was a “mammoth task” but the Government wanted to pay back the money as speedily and efficiently as possible.

She denied claims by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny during Leader’s Questions that the Cabinet was kicking the issue into touch to delay a decision.

She said: “The Government is anxious to ensure that the families concerned are repaid as quickly and as efficiently and as fairly as possible. This is a complex and mammoth task because we’re talking about in the region of 275,000 persons.

“We’re talking about a minimum of €500m and maybe substantially more than that.”

She confirmed that the statute of limitations six-year bar couldn’t apply to people of unsound mind.

The sub-committee is made up of the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, Finance minister Brian Cowen and the Attorney General Rory Brady.

A Government spokesman said tonight: “The sub-committee will progress matters carefully and quickly and report back to the Cabinet next Tuesday. Any decisions made will be in the spirit of the Supreme Court ruling.”

Ms Harney repeated her assurance that current health spending this year would not be hit by the repayments.

This seemed to be at variance with Mr Cowen’s comments last night that the massive compensation bill will result in lower spending elsewhere.

New legislation allowing for charges to be levied in future was approved by Cabinet today and will be published later this week.

New laws allowing for the promised ’doctor only’ medical cards will also be brought forward.

Labour leader Pat Rabbitte reiterated earlier that the Government, including former health minister Micheal Martin, had full knowledge about the illegal charges in 2001.

“Now they’re confronted with finding the money in a single calendar year,” he said.

He warned about cutbacks in Government departments, particularly in health.

“The services in the health sector are already threadbare. The message has to be ’hands off health'”.