Health Bill - McAleese decision is welcome

President Mary McAleese sought the advice of the Council of State about referring the controversial new Health Bill to the Supreme Court, but the ultimate decision was hers alone.

As an eminent lawyer, she is fully competent to evaluate the legal complexities of the bill.

There is a good deal of confusion over the constitutionality of the retrospective aspects of the legislation purporting to legalise the deduction of up to 80% of the social welfare entitlements that had been illegally withheld from some 20,000 people in long-term State care. Some cases could extend back over more than a quarter of a century.