Court rules patients can recover illegal charges

The Supreme Court has ruled that patients charged illegally for care in State-run homes over a 30-year period are entitled to recover money, estimated to be in the region of €500m, which was deducted from their pensions.

The Tánaiste, Mr Harney, tonight welcomed the judgement as she opened a Dáil debate on the matter.

In the ruling this morning, Chief Justice Justice Murray said the ban on patients suing to recover the monies was "repugnant" to the Constitution. He also said the recovery of monies unlawfully charged could not be characterised as a "windfall".

The court said it has been assessed that 275,000 patients had received the services from 1976. But taking account of the Statute of Limitations the figure to be repaid by the State stands at around €500 million for the six-year period from 1999.

The ruling said that while burden of the repayment on the State is "a substantial one", it cannot be described "as as anything like catastrophic" or that it is beyond the means of the State "to make provision for this within the scope normal budgetary management".

The Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Ms Harney, has said the Government will put in place a mechanism to pay back charges to patients.

She said the Government would have to figure out how they set about paying the money back "because it goes back a long number of years" and they need to establish who the individuals are.

The court also ruled that provisions in the Health Amendment Bill to impose such charges in the future, were constitutional.

Chief Justice Justice Murray, Mrs Justice Denham, Mrs Justice McGuinness, Mr Justice Hardiman, Mr Justice Geoghan, Mr Justice Fennelly and Mr Justice McCracken, presented their 88-page ruling shortly after 11 a.m. this morning.

The Health Amendment (No 2 Bill) went through the Oireachtas late last year following advice from the Attorney General that making the deductions was illegal. The Government offered €2,000 to each patient illegally charged in the past.

The Bill was referred to the Supreme Court by the President, Mrs McAleese following a meeting with the Council of State.

Under the Bill, elderly people in care will be required to pay up to 80 per cent of their pensions towards their nursing home bills.

Because certain sections of the Bill are repugnant, the Bill in its entirety falls.

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern said in the Dáil the ruling would bring clarity to the Bill and the 90-page judgment would be studied closely by the Attorney General and the Department of Health.

The Labour Party's deputy leader Ms Liz McManus accused the Government of ineptitude.

"Could I ask the Taoiseach to make a statement now in relation to the situation that arises as a result of their bungling, their ineptitude and the harshness with which they have treated the elderly in this country?" the Wicklow TD said.

Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, and Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, also pressed for a statement to the Dáil from the Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Ms Harney.