The Rural Independent group of TDs are asking for an emergency Dáil debate in respect of revelations about a Department of Health legal strategy to avoid making refunds for nursing home charges over several decades.
A whistle blower in the HSE revealed that the practice had been ongoing in the Department of Health for decades with successive Ministers and Attorney Generals aware of the practice.
Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath says the Taoiseach’s explanation of his involvement in what he called a “ cruel scandal” is not credible.
Deputy McGrath is also dismissing the Tánaiste Micheál Martin’s denial of possessing any knowledge of a strategy to deny refunds of illegally charged nursing home fees to patients by the State – saying it lacks credibility that he did not know having served as Health Minister between 2000 and 2004.
The Tipperary TD says that the Government cannot simply remove the heat from the scandal by kicking it onto the Attorney General for a review.
