Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It must be difficult for the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, to sit here and defend a policy strategy that at the time made every effort to take away or minimise the eligibility of people for the nursing home subvention scheme. Those people, and some with disabilities, were denied their rights. That is what we are talking about.

We have all heard about the Ombudsman's report and we know what its findings say. The 2010 report recommended significant repayment of moneys to those who were forced by the State to overpay. However, the State aggressively and consistently defended its stance, taking people to court.

When it became clear that the claimants were likely to succeed, the State settled before discovery. Why did it do so? It did so because discovery would have meant other individuals and families who were also denied their rights would have been made aware of the situation and were likely to take cases.

I have often described the State as a juggernaut when it comes to defending its position. Not everybody who takes the State to court is right. Indeed, the State has a duty to defend the public purse. However, this case and many others I have seen show a State policy that bends before the powerful and those with wealth, influence and clout, like the banks or the church, while steamrolling the individual, the voiceless, those without connections and power and, in this case, those in nursing homes or their families and people with disabilities.

I have looked at the Attorney General's report, which speaks of scarce resources and hard choices. Resources were scarce, but it is the job of Government to ensure that scarce resources are distributed fairly to all its citizens. We have heard about hard choices, but the Government took the easy choice, namely the line of least resistance to take money illegally from certain people and then defend that practice with the full weight of the State in courts.

People sometimes use the term "making hard choices" as if it is somehow a noble and upright thing to do. The State made the easy choice. It was a hard choice for those who are disadvantaged. I hope the Minister of State and her colleagues will reflect on this matter carefully and try to rebalance the rights of individuals and families with managing the public purse. It cannot be easy to sit here, but the case is not yet closed. I am not asking Government to make hard choices or easy choices; rather, I am asking it to make good choices.

See this speech in context