Repayment money could be used to fund health services

Illegal charges: Persons entitled to benefit from the Government's €1 billion repayment scheme for illegal nursing home charges will be allowed to decline the money and instead pass it on to pay for developments in the health service.

Draft proposals drawn up by the Department of Health for the operation of the repayment scheme contain provisions to allow patients and their estates who were affected by the illegal charges to waive their right to a repayment.

In such cases the recipient could opt to assign the money "to fund one-off service improvements in elderly, mental health and disability services".

The Department of Health has estimated that around 20,000 people who are alive and a further 40,000-50,000 estates will benefit from the repayment scheme which is likely to be introduced early next year.

The Irish Times reported yesterday that estates may face having to pay inheritance tax on the repayments.

In addition, the beneficiaries of repayments paid out to estates may have this money taken into account when being assessed for current or future means-test soccial welfare payents.

Patients in public nursing homes who were charged illegally for their stay will not themselves have to pay tax on the repayments or have the money taken into account for social welfare purposes.

Legislation allowing the establishment of the repayment scheme will be introduced in the Oireachtas before Christmas.

The scheme will also contain two appeals mechanisms for people turned down for repayments. Initially, they will be able to appeal to the head of their local HSE area. There will also be provision for a further appeal to a central agency.

The draft proposals maintain that special arrangements will also be put in place to protect persons of unsound mind who in certain cases will receive significant amounts of money but not have the capacity to manage these funds.

The Department of Health has proposed that health service officials should be designated as authorised officers to open accounts in the name of persons "who are non compos mentis and in receipt of payments".

The Department has also proposed that "it may be prudent to make a provision that no capital sum is to be paid out of that account without the payment being approved by the Master of the High Court".