Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney has confirmed that an article in yesterday's Irish Times on details of an unpublished report on care for older people was accurate, after telling the Dáil earlier that it "did not reflect reality".
The Irish Times reported yesterday that an ESRI report had been considered by Cabinet. The report stated that a majority of people were opposed to older people having to sell or remortgage their home to help pay for long-term care.
In response to a question in the Dáil yesterday from Labour leader Pat Rabbitte on whether the ESRI's research would be published, Ms Harney said no such report had been discussed at Wednesday's Cabinet meeting.
She said: "On the article in The Irish Times this morning, the Government did not have any such report at Cabinet yesterday nor did it discuss public opinion polls on housing. I do not know where it came from but it certainly was not on the agenda yesterday, nor did any such document form part of any discussion. I know the piece was written by a reputable journalist but it did not reflect reality."
However, following a subsequent query from The Irish Times, a spokesman for Ms Harney accepted that details of the ESRI report had been noted at Cabinet in mid-December.
He said: "The Tánaiste's intention was not to try and suggest that there was any inaccuracy in the article and we can confirm that it was correct. The issue was considered at Cabinet. An aide memoire was brought to Cabinet and noted."
The spokesman added that in her comments to the Dáil, the Tánaiste had been speaking in the context of Wednesday's Cabinet meeting and not earlier meetings.
The ESRI report, which involved interviews with more than 2,000 people, found that 60 per cent of adults were opposed to any form of equity-release scheme. Just 3.8 per cent supported such a system.
Such equity-release schemes are among a number of options contained in an inter-departmental report being considered by the Government as part of its plans for a new, long-term care system for older people.
The ESRI report indicates that a majority of adults agree in principle with the idea of sharing costs between the family and the State. However, while there was support in principle for such funding options, these levels dropped dramatically when respondents were asked how much they were willing to pay on a weekly basis.