Nursing home fees to be reintroduced this week

The controversial nursing home charges that were illegally levied on medical card holders over a 28-year period are due to be reintroduced this Thursday.

The practice of deducting up to 80% of patients' old-age pensions to pay for their public nursing home care was halted late last year after the Attorney General warned that it was legally unsound.

The Government subsequently introduced a new law to legalise future charges.

However, its bid to also retrospectively legalise the fees was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and the State is now facing a compensation bill running into hundreds of millions of euro.

Nursing home residents who were illegally charged in the past should start receiving rebates once legislation is passed in the autumn.