The Travers report on the illegal charges levied on patients in public nursing homes and other long-stay facilities is to be presented to Minister for Health Mary Harney this afternoon.
The report by former Forfás head John Travers is expected to be strongly critical of procedures in the Department of Health. Remarks by Ms Harney in the Dáil yesterday were interpreted as the first hint that Travers may criticise some former ministers.
Following the recent Supreme Court ruling, Ms Harney said there had been "systemic maladministration" in the Department of Health. However yesterday she told the Dáil that "maladministration does not just affect public officials".
"When we stated that these charges were levied, we thought it was on the basis of good faith and that no one knew that what we were doing was wrong. That was not the case. It became very clear over recent weeks that it had been known for a considerable time that we were acting illegally."
Figures released by Health Service Executive to the Government yesterday show that up to 316,000 people may be eligible for compensation as a result of the illegal charges.
The figures, which have not yet been verified, are far higher than the numbers originally estimated by the Government and would signal that the State's bill for meeting the compensation payments could be in excess of the €500 million to €2 billion range forecast after the recent Supreme Court ruling.
After the report is presented to Ms Harney this afternoon, it will be circulated to the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Enterprise and Employment.
It will be brought before Cabinet on Tuesday, and it is understood that the document will be published at a press conference on Tuesday evening.