Ahern: Nursing home payments will cost at least €850m

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has told the Dáil that repayments to thousands of medical card holders illegally charged for nursing home care will cost the taxpayer at least €850m.

The State is facing the bill as a result of illegally levying charges on such patients from 1976 until late last year, when the practice was halted.

Yesterday, the Cabinet approved moves to refund the charges with interest to around 22,000 patients and the estates of a further 40,000 who died over the past six years.

However, the statute of limitations is expected to be invoked so the Government can avoid having to make payments to people who died before December 1998.

Speaking about the matter in the Dáil this morning, Mr Ahern said the Government was likely to hire an outside agency to deal with repaying the illegal fees.

He said the final bill could not be accurately predicted at this stage, but the most recent estimates showed it would cost between €850m and €1bn.