Harney to close homes loophole

The Cabinet will decide on Tuesday whether the State should repay millions of euro to patients who were charged unlawfully for care in nursing homes.

The Minister for Health, Ms Harney, told The Irish Times last night that she would be bringing legislation to Government next week to allow for the reintroduction of such charges.

On Thursday she ordered health boards to stop charging medical-card patients aged over 70 for their care in public nursing homes or in private beds contracted by the State on foot of advice from the Attorney General.

Ms Harney said that the absence of such charges would cost health boards around €8 million per month.

Health boards are likely to ask the Department of Health for additional funding to offset the loss of income from the charges.

Ms Harney said that most people considered it reasonable that patients should be asked to make a contribution towards their board and lodging in public nursing-home facilities.

The difficulties raised by the Attorney General related to regulations introduced in 1976 which made provisions for charges to be made by health boards.

The Minister said that some health boards had sought advice on the legality of the charges in the light of legislation introduced by the Government in 2001 which provided everyone over 70 with a medical card.

The Department of Health had received the legal opinion obtained by some health boards in March 2003.

The Minister said the Attorney General would advise the Cabinet on Tuesday. She indicated that one issue the Government would have to consider was when exactly each health board obtained opinion about the legality of making such charges on patients in public nursing homes.

Ms Harney said she had asked the secretary general of the Department of Health to draw up a memorandum on the background to the controversy, and this would also be presented to Cabinet on Tuesday.

She had asked the Attorney General for advice on the issue at the beginning of November and had received his opinion on Wednesday.

She had immediately acted to order health boards to cease making such charges. No one had indicated to her previously that there might be a problem in this area.

The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, who has repeatedly questioned the Taoiseach and Minister on the issue, has claimed that it arose as a result of a "pre-election stunt" by the Government in 2001 to buy off the elderly with an extension of the medical card scheme.