The former secretary general of the Department of Health, Michael Kelly, and former health minister Micheál Martin may be called before a Dáil committee to discusses the contents of the Travers report.
The report, which found the department was well aware of concerns around the legality of nursing home charges for almost three decades but did not act on them, is on the agenda of the next meeting of the Dáil Health Committee on Thursday week.
Yesterday, Dr Liam Twomey, Fine Gael's health spokesman and a member of the committee, said he would be calling at that meeting for a number of people named in the report to be called before the committee. These could include Mr Kelly, Mr Martin, Mr Martin's advisers, a number of former health ministers and Department of Health officials.
They might also include Pat McLoughlin, former chief executive officer of the south eastern health board (SEHB) and currently deputy chief executive of the national Health Service Executive, who could be asked why he sought legal advice on the legality of nursing home charges in 2002.
It was the SEHB's legal advice, when forwarded to the Department of Health, that prompted the department to seek the advice of the Attorney General on nursing home charges. And while it drafted a letter for the Attorney General in early 2004, it was not sent until after the issue was raised in the Dáil last October.
John Maloney, the Fianna Fáil chairman of the committee, said the meeting would decide what was the best way to deal with issues raised in the Travers report. He could not say who might be called before it. "I do not want to pre-empt what the committee will say."
The illegal charging of elderly medical card holders for care in public nursing homes for nearly 30 years could cost the State up to €2 billion in refunds.