Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is an historic issue that dates back to the 1970s. I do not know the full facts of it and I doubt that anyone else does. The Minister for Health has sought advice from the Attorney General and a detailed written briefing from his officials. The Attorney General is also preparing a report for Cabinet for next Tuesday, which we will publish thereafter. Until such a time as we receive those detailed written briefings, there is a limited amount we can say on the matter because we need to establish the facts, although the Deputy seems to know them all already. Once the facts have been established this will be subject to statements in the House and it would also be appropriate for Department of Health officials to make a presentation to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health. It has been confirmed that the policy and legal approach predated July 2011 and has been followed since then. Successive Attorneys General and Ministers in multiple Governments, and senior officials in the Department of Health, would have considered the matter and it would appear that they advised in a consistent manner on the issue.

This matter has been grossly misrepresented, including by the Deputy just now in a very irresponsible way. The Deputy's claim that people in private nursing homes were illegally charged is not correct and her claim that this was confirmed by a Government spokesperson last night was just made up. The strategy was to defend the cases relating to private nursing homes on several grounds, in particular that medical card holders did not have an entitlement to free private nursing home care. It was never the policy of the Government nor the intention of the Oireachtas to create such an entitlement. Even today people with medical cards, for one reason or another, either choose or are forced to avail of private healthcare and social care; they do not get a refund, not even now. A limited number of individual cases were settled over the course of ten years, where there were complicating factors. No case ever proceeded to a hearing and if it had, the State would have defended its position and had bona fide defences prepared.

In the case of public nursing home charges, a scheme was put in place that was widely publicised and €485 million was paid to former residents and their families. This sum was considerably less than the estimate of €5 billion put on the potential liability in 2011 by the Department of Health. It was made clear at the time that this would not extend to people who were in private nursing homes. I want to reassure the House that this is not a current issue that impacts any current nursing home residents or any residents in recent years. Since 2009 the nursing home support scheme, the fair deal, has provided a legal basis for individuals to make contributions towards their public or private nursing home costs.

On my role, in 2011 I was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. I was Minister for Health from the summer of 2014 to the summer of 2016, which was six to eight years ago. I must have been briefed on it. The Ministers who went before and after me were briefed on it so I must have been as well but I cannot tell the Deputy when, by whom, in what depth or detail or whether it was written or verbal. Until I have access to documents from that period I cannot answer that question definitively and I do not have any access to documents from that period, but I have sought them. What I can say is that the policy and strategy was devised and agreed prior to me becoming Minister for Health. I do not know if I was specifically asked to sign off on it being continued but if I had been asked I would have. This was a sound policy approach and a legitimate legal strategy by the Government at the time, by previous Governments, and by Governments since. All Ministers, from 2005 onwards, at all times acted in good faith, in the public interest, in accordance with official advice and in accordance with legal advice from the Attorney General and that is exactly how they should act.

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