Some elderly people will pay more for nursing home care in public facilities than they did in the past when nursing home charges are reintroduced tomorrow.
However, after Siptu raised concerns about the development yesterday, the Department of Health said different charges had been levied in different health board areas prior to the charges being dropped last December when it emerged they were illegal.
A spokesman for the department said that even in different institutions there had been a range of charges imposed.
Charges would now be imposed in a uniform manner across the State and while in individual cases this could result in people paying more than they had been used to, others could end up paying less, he said.
He rejected claims by Siptu that this would result in hardship for some elderly people.
He said there was provision for charges to be waved in cases where they might result in hardship.
He also rejected the suggestion that new groups of people would be charged that were not charged previously.
Siptu nursing official Oliver McDonagh claimed that under the new regime patients would be left with little or nothing after paying upfront charges.
From tomorrow, residents receiving inpatient care with nursing care provided on a 24-hour basis will be charged €120 "or the weekly income of that person less €35, whichever is the lesser".
Patients in homes where nursing care is not provided on a 24-hour basis will pay €90 or "the weekly income of that person less € 55 or 60 per cent of the income of that person, whichever is the lesser".
Paul Murray of Age Action Ireland said there needed to be a study of how much elderly people needed to cover expenses other than their accommodation in nursing homes.
"And there's the wider question of whether people should be entitled to their full pension rather than having it deducted for nursing home care. We don't think that question has been addressed. Until we sort all this out and there is a proper debate, the charging is anomalous."