Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I welcome today's ruling by the Supreme Court without reservation. The bottom line is that elderly people have been illegally charged. They must now be reimbursed with the minimum of delay and bureaucracy. The Government needs to start work right away on a scheme that will see the people concerned reimbursed and without recourse to expensive legal proceedings.

The Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill was rushed through this House on 16 December 2004, the last sitting day before the Christmas recess. Despite the warnings of Members in the Dáil and in the Seanad, the Government pushed on. It was cautioned against bringing forward such a retrospective Bill. In concluding my brief remarks on Second Stage I appealed to the Minister to return to the principle that the State had a duty of care and a responsibility to ensure the rights of the most vulnerable in our society were protected. I said the legislation did not measure up to this responsibility and should be withdrawn and redrafted or fundamentally changed. The Minister ploughed on regardless, with the result we see today.

This ruling has exposed the Government's arrogance in its approach to legislation. In ramming it through both Houses without sufficient debate or scrutiny, the Minister's actions have resulted in a legal debacle for the Government. However, it is a welcome judgment for those thousands of elderly people on whom charges were wrongfully imposed.

Many are naturally concerned at the impact of this judgment on the public finances. While the judgment must be studied closely, it must be stressed that this repayment is not only obligatory on the State, it is also manageable. The Supreme Court judgment puts the sum involved at around €500 million, dating back to 1999, but that is not the whole picture. What of the money due for the years preceding 1999? Does the Government intend to invoke the Statute of Limitations? The Minister should tell us, spell the matter out and share with the House this evening the full story of the Government's intent.

The tragedy in all of this is that the State's shabby treatment of older people under successive Governments has caused a great deal of distress. The Minister's actions have caused enormous confusion and worry, especially among elderly people in residential care and their families. The matter must be resolved as speedily as possible and proper, adequate information made public to ensure the confusion is ended. Repayment of moneys owed should proceed with minimum bureaucracy and without thousands of people having to go through the courts. The issue has raised many questions about the way the State supports or fails to support elderly people in long-term residential care. For example, how does the Minister justify the wide variation in subventions among various regions? The question has never been satisfactorily answered, let alone addressed.

What of property rights? I will share with the Minister for Health and Children and her immediate predecessor, both of whom are present, an example from my constituency. I dealt recently with the case of an elderly constituent who had devoted her life to rearing her family and looking after their modest home. In her twilight years she was widowed while her children had either emigrated or lived in other parts of Ireland. She suffered ill health and underwent a long hospital stay. She faced the prospect of being unable to return to the home in which she had been self-dependent for many years and required long-term residential care. The State deemed that she did not qualify for a place in a State-run home or subvention as she owned her small, terraced house which was valued at approximately €150,000. Her children had to sell the family home and dispose of their mother's remaining possessions to pay for her long-term private residential care. It was for that family as if their mother had died. The case is characteristic of what is a savage system over which to preside. In such cases, there is a bounden duty to address every element of care for the elderly in our society.

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