Repayments to those wrongly charged for nursing home care will be exempt from tax and the money will not be taken into account in the assessment of health and social welfare benefits, it was announced yesterday.
The repayment of money plus interest to those wrongly charged or to their estate is expected to cost the taxpayer about €1 billion.
The money is due to about 20,000 people who are still alive and a further 40,000 to 50,000 estates will benefit.
Minister for Health Mary Harney said the Government has agreed the text of the Health (Repayment Scheme) Bill 2006.
The Bill, to be published next week, will provide for the repayment of public nursing home charges to all those who were wrongly charged and are alive, and the estates of all those who were wrongly charged and died since December 9th, 1998.
"The repayment scheme will be simple to use and has been designed following consultation with and input from the oversight committee whom I appointed to provide an independent input into the process," she said.
"The scheme will ensure that repayments can be made swiftly to those eligible for repayment... It is my intention that priority in making repayments will be given to those applicants who are still alive," Ms Harney added.
The legislation will not allow for repayments to the estates of those who died more than six years ago. The Minister hopes to have the legislation approved by the Oireachtas and signed into law before the end of May.
Repayments will begin shortly afterwards, following the appointment of an outside company by the HSE.
According to the Department of Health, the repayments will include both the charge paid and an amount to take account of inflation. All repayments to living persons will be exempt from income tax and repayments will not be taken into account in assessing means for health and social welfare benefits.
However, the normal tax- and means-assessment arrangements will apply to those who benefit from repayments to estates. The scheme includes a provision to allow those eligible for a repayment to waive their right to a repayment and have the money assigned to fund one-off service improvements for older persons and persons with a disability.
