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LAST UPDATE | 30 Jan 2023
THE GOVERNMENT IS set to hold discussions on the public release of documents related to an alleged “secret strategy” that aimed to limit refunds from the State to individuals who were incorrectly charged for public nursing home care.
However, a Dáil debate on nursing home charges controversy is delayed by one week despite calls from some TDs for time to set aside to discuss the matter in the coming days.
In response to a question from The Journal, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien confirmed that the release of documents related to the supposed secret strategy “will be a matter that will be discussed with government colleagues”.
He added that these discussions will inform the “appropriate steps that need to be taken”.
However, Minister O’Brien said that he has not yet seen the “detail” of the documents.
It follows a report in yesterday’s Irish Mail on Sunday about a failure to provide payouts to families of people who were illegally charged for nursing home stays from the 1970s until late 2000s.
The report is based on a protected disclosure by Department of Health whistleblower Shane Corr.
It alleges that since 2011, multiple governments have sought to hide the State’s liability for the charges to prevent a possible €12 billion in payouts to those affected.
The strategy was said to be contained in a secret memo that was dated 13 July, 2011.
The Regional Independent TDs group called on the Oireachtas Business Committee to convene today to find time in the Dáil schedule this week to discuss the controversy.
The committee met this afternoon where it is understood that the Government Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton said that it was too short notice.
Committee members are understood to have reluctantly accepted the matter will be discussed in the Dáil the week after next.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Tánaiste Micheál Martin confirmed that the Government has asked the Attorney General to look at the issue.
The spokesperson added that Martin “would not have been aware of any legal strategy or memo on nursing home charges”.
A Labour spokesperson for former party leader and former Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said:
“Deputy Howlin was not involved in any decision in relation to a legal strategy on nursing home charges.”
“Deputy Howlin has supported calls for all documents referenced in the article to be made available without delay to the Public Accounts Committee for full scrutiny.”
The Irish Daily Mail article also made reference to the Office of the Controller and Auditor General (C&AG) claiming that the Government ensured the cost of any settlements – and the size of the potential liability it faced – was not be publicly reported by the spending watchdog.
A statement provided to The Journal from the Office of the C&AG, said:
“The article has quoted from a document which we have not seen and therefore we are not aware of the context of the selected quote. It is important to note that the C&AG is independent of government in the exercise of his functions.”
Elsewhere, Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson David Cullinane yesterday called on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to issue statements on their knowledge of the strategy.
Deputy Cullinane also called on the government to “release all relevant documents and memos to provide full transparency”.
He added that these were “very serious allegations” and described it as a “secret plan to block refunds of illegal nursing home charges”.
Cullinane has also written to the Oireachtas Health Committee requesting copies of all memos and documents referenced in the report.
Speaking to the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he has spent the weekend “trying to get the facts” about the issue.
Varadkar said that he didn’t receive the 2011 memo, and neither did anyone who is in the current government.
He also claimed that the “true picture is going to be a lot more complex and different from how it was presented in the article”.
Varadkar added that the figures used in the article “are not in any way still valid” and appear to relate to “nursing home charges prior to the Fair Deal”.
The Fair Deal Scheme is a financial support scheme for people who enter into long-term nursing home care.
It was designed to help older people pay the costs of nursing home care regardless of their financial situation and takes into account income and assets.
Until the mid-2000s, medical card holders were entitled to free nursing home care from the State.
Then-Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly published a report on the issue called ‘Who Cares?’ in 2010, which says the Department of Health “persisted with an illegal charging regime because of, amongst other things, the need to maintain an important source of funding”.
The report also accused State agencies of showing a lack of transparency and accountability about the matter.
The Taoiseach told Newstalk that his “initial understanding” is that the issue relates to people “who pay for private nursing homes”.
Varadkar added: “They argue that because they had a medical card, they were entitled to a full refund of the cost, regardless of the cost or regardless of which nursing home they chose; the state has never conceded that.”
The Irish Mail on Sunday article also alleged that “compensation was denied to anyone who did not have the resources to fight legal cases” and that the remainder of the cases “were all quietly settled by the State”.
Speaking today on Newstalk, Varadkar said: “There have been some cases that have been settled and it will be the case from time to time that government departments will settle some cases.
“But they’re not all settled and there was never a test case that went to trial.
“It needs to be looked into properly, but I think it’s fair to say that the way it was presented on Sunday, the real picture is a lot more complex than that and certainly what I can say is I was never party to devising or agreeing a legal strategy in relation to nursing home charges.”
Fine Gael were asked for comment on behalf of Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan. Minister Simon Harris was also asked for comment.
-With additional reporting from Tadgh McNally and Christina Finn
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Designate the Docklands as a high rise zone. Leave the Georgian parts of Dublin alone. Problem solved. Stop f****g about, Taisce. This needs to happen.
Was going to suggest exactly that, which automatically means your opinion is more right than the others.
Well said Peter. Agree totally. There is too many people with too much to say with our planning authorities. Just get on with the docklands
I second this motion!
It’s funny Peter, they don’t ever seem overly concerned about the Georgian parts of the city anyway. Rarely see them kick up a fuss over the state of the north inner city Georgian areas. They only ever seem bothers with the southside Merrion Square etc…..hmmmm!
Move Dublin Port to Drogheda and use that land to build a new city center, all proper high rise. Then grow up and put in a proper underground system.
Sadly our useless politicians have no vision
and don’t forget the intimate charm of o connell St with its lovely urban characters
They go on about the Georgian parts of Dublin, its a shame that most of those street are filthy and rundown. Most haven’t seen a lick of paint in 50 years and some have trees growing out of them and filthy windows. Dublin needs to start building up to stop the urban sprawl. The city should have designated areas for highrise and the docklands should be one of those areas. 25 years ago it was a rundown part of the city. Shame most of the land is now built on with 8 storey buildings
Not for this plan though. 28 metres is hardly “high-rise”. it’s only about 10 stories.
Guess nobody ‘suggesting’ the docklands as the designated high rise area actually lives here?
28 metres is not high rise. Even though I believe Dublin should go higher, the proposal is for only 28 metres (and city-wide, if I’m not mistaken). The only people suggesting that qualifies as high-rise are the nuts in Taisce
There is little ‘intimate charm’ in a 2 hour commute from a sprawling and soulless commuter belt development to work and back again which is reality for many people due to the past refusal to build higher in the city. Surely a city should first and foremost serve the needs of its people and allow them to live within its limits rather than keeping a few elitists happy as they want to to remain unchanged forever. Dublin needs to evolve with its citizens
Well said, and also we can keep the moderate heights in the heart of the city and the Georgian areas if we want while still building upways in the docklands. A skyline would only add to the aesthetic of the place anyway
Couldn’t agree more. Over 1h commuting, it’s simply a waste of time.
“A skyline would only add to the aesthetic of the place anyway”
This, the city has such a bland skyline, it’s the reason many people want to keep the Poolbeg towers.
An taisce must have been livid about that, but it’s their own fault.
we should build the tallest building in the world and give tourist more to go to other then the Guinness store house
The problem you talk about will only get worse when the population density in the city increases without proper transportation, build the support infrastructure first then let’s talk about increasing density
Have you seen the state if the city centre? That’s “restructuring the infrastructure” right there. And now new structures well be built around the infrastructure. There’s a mouthful!
Land is scarce. Stop the urban sprawl. Upwards !
The only way is UP.
Baby….for you and me now.
The fact that I get this shows how old we are!
Yes!
I can’t believe I was once a member of An Taisce. It’s controlled by a bunch of D4 wannabe environmentalists who couldn’t give a toss about the development of a modern, functioning Dublin and Ireland.
Dublin needs to have a dense population and needs to control the sprawl out to the west and north.
It’s ironic, An Taisce don’t want thousands of acres of countryside ruined with sprawling housing estates and they don’t want proper high density development in the city. Morons.
We need more people like you back in An Taisce. Remove the dinosaur’s with no vision for the city. Same goes for those idiots in An Bord Pleanala.
Strict planning guidelines on space, light, rooftop gardens etc and let’s go up. They could also legislate for minimum maintenance and security!
Also more schools, buses, Luas trams, underground parking (infrastructure)to cater for extra people/extra demand.
There’s no easy answer. a carte blanche isn’t the answer. A controlled ana zoned area would be good like the docklands, but sticking one in the middle of merrion square isnt good.
They should let me plan it… I’m amazing at Sim-City! As long as the difficulty is set to Easy with no Godzilla attacks or tornados!
Or Residents’ Groups
@David, well, I think the possibility of a Godzilla attack on Dublin is remote, tornadoes could happen though, once in a while, so I think you should have a go at designing
And you’d need a builder that can construct buildings with proper fire safety and everything else done correctly. Seem to be precious few of those about in Ireland in recent times.
Brilliant. We build 2 story fire death traps so well that I can’t wait to see our 40 story plus towering infernos.
But hollywood will make a big blockbuster based on the disaster :)
its funny. we’re one of the only cities in the world without threats of natural disasters. ie earthquakes, tornados but yet we’ve not built all that high. 4storeys seems to be a tall building here!
Yes deffo. A mix of high rise and old dublin would be fantastic
Mega City One all the way…
Zarjaz ! Splundig vur Thrigg
Yes for crying out loud. The precious skyline, give be a break
High rise makes so much sense in commercial and residential living. Ok we can’t really compare Dublin to New York say as it’s apples and oranges. But take modern residential skyscrapers in New York today. They have big 2/3/4 bed apartments, on site gym, laundry, pool, grocery store at bottom. I know these are for the mega rich but then within a 2-3 block radius you got restaurants, bars, shops, a city park, schools etc etc.
The Ballymun project failed because the lack of services and policing and maintenance of lifts etc. In the US every building or co-op has a super which is the man who looks after the maintenance of the building from a stuck door lock to a light out in the stairwell. We need this approach to city living here.
18,000 residents per square mile in low rise Copenhagen. 11,000 per square mile in Dublin. Copenhagen doesn’t tower blocks to reach that density. It’s a 4 1/2 story city where people want to live. Maybe you need a higher minimum density for new development around the city so that it doesn’t have to sprawl.
And if Dublin’s anything like Belfast arterial routes that were once lined with houses now have vacant shops at ground level with empty space above while the council puts ever more parking restrictions along the roads to try to move people more efficiently from out of town rather than trying to reclaim the unused space in town. How much potential residential space is available and unused already?
Copenhagen also has a far better public transport infrastructure than Dublin
…and is a lot cleaner. And more cycle-friendly. In fact, it’s a nicer city all ’round.
Having a city that has an “innate charm” is all well and good for tourists (though the notion that tourists would be put off by high-rise in Dublin is a highly dubious proposition based on ZERO research), but so does Disneyland.
I think you’d quickly find it rather impractical living in Disneyland. Likewise, a city of 1~1.5 million occupying an area as large as Dublin and its attached suburbs in Kildare, Meath and Wicklow is absolute madness. It’s bad for house prices, it’s bad for urban planning, and it’s bad for the environment.
Paris’s skyline didn’t lose its “innate charm” because of its high-rise (did you even know it’s there, An Taisce? Amsterdam has high-rise too.). No matter how high you build, it will never be visible from every point in the city. Go around Taipei and see if you can see Taipei 101 from every point in the city. Further than 2km you’d never know it existed.
So sorry, An Taisce. You can eff off with your ill-informed, totally-unresearched nimbyist BS.
And, Paul, maybe consider changing the subtitle. An Taisce is only wants you to have your say if it’s what they want.
There’s no excuse not to go high rise. Even an aesthetically beautiful city like Paris has no issues with skyscrapers, they have them in the CBD district in La Defense. Simple, keeps the skyscrapers away from the really historic and beautiful areas. And many skyscrapers look fantastic, works of architectural genius. The Shard in London is fantastic looking.
If we won’t build proper infrastructure to address the ever increasing commuting from Leinster, we will have to start building higher. Obviously, we will have to ensure certain architects and developers aren’t involved in any future projects so as to avoid the insanity of Long Boat etc
There is quite a bit of unwanted intimate charm when you’re stuck on a steamy commuter bus for an hour. I’m not sure that’s what they are talking about however.
Commercial high rise buildings, yes of course, domestic high rise apartment buildings, not so sure. This will make living in Dublin even more expensive and compromise our quality of life. We are one of the few places in Europe and the world where most people live in houses, we have the precious space that everyone else would kill for. Never compare living in a house vs living in a flat.
Well… I wish I could live in a modern apartment, rather than in a cold house here… Fact is, I had no choice. Every tikme I was lookinf for an apartmente I was told: “You got kids? Don’t even bother to apply…”. Apartment is more energy efficient and space efficient.
I can tell there are plenty of peoole out there who;ll prefer a flat, rather than forced into a house.
Your house might be cold, mine is properly insulated. A building would have the same problem, we just don’t have many old flats, most flats in Dublin are new and are better insulated, but go anywhere in Europe and stay in a 40 year old flat and it would be as cold as your house. And insulating your house is an easy job, insulating your old flat would be a very expensive and maybe impossible task.
Mi parents in Italy live in a building built in the ’50s,
Thick 50cm wall on the perimeter, standard 15cm cement inside. We’d insulated just the windows with double-layer.
Obviously, no cardboard anywhere, and it’s a flat on a build of five floors.
Celilings 2.40 cm height.
I can tell you, is much more warm than here, even in winter. And no, they’re not living in a warm location. In fact, winters can be colder over there than here.
I grew up in a small apartment on the 5th floor, and always dreamt of having a garden to play in. Each to their own, I suppose.
Who are these an taisc clowns? ….The seem to treat this city as their own personal museum. A city should be a dynamic growing thing not a static relic protected from development. It’s not reinventing the wheel. It’s a small city with too much sprawl. We need to build up ams have a subway system ASAP not in 2027 as the idiots in government are planning
Most of Ireland was untouched landscape with so many wonderful buildings, With campaigns to save, modernise, redevelop no one really ever won we have bits and pieces all of the place.
What we need to do is stop all planning and with public input draw up new plans that develop growth, jobs, promote & preserve our history, provide better transport, services etc… Build a great new Ireland look what fellow Irish did for the rest the world that could be here.
What you need is a tyrannical architect overlord to tell you how its going to be everywhere. We’re even worse for wasting land up here than Dublin up here as everyone built new hoses out in places like Bangor and Lisburn when no-one wanted to live in Belfast. So the suburbs have more people than the city and we’ve two story social houses a couple of minutes walk from the City Hall.
For example if Belfast was as tightly packed as Barcelona we could fit the entire population of Northern Ireland in. They’ve 1.6M people in 39 square miles and this place has 44 square miles. And Barcelona’s grid system generally works – you can drive around a lot faster than in Dublin anyway.
Still so much dereliction – take a walk through the city – empty buildings, vacant floors above shops, redundant basements are all deserving of proper use before we go up and make a mess of it. Developer led planning a la Longboat Quay here we go again.
yes highrise is the way to go but maintenance must also be provided e.g. facade, lifts, security features etc. Unfortunately, this may entail maintenance/service changes for people but provided the charge is reasonable and accountable may halt the reappearance of a ballymun project.
The highest place I have ever done it is sixth floor
Time for ecofriendly high rise buildings. The only way is to build up.
When the sea rises, it will have too lol.
have your say