Advocacy body Age Action has welcomed the publication of an investigation by the Ombudsman into the right to nursing home care in Ireland.
The organisation said the subject matter at the heart of the report had “long been an issue of contention for older people”.
“Many older people have paid large sums for sub-vented beds in private nursing homes, or have paid the full cost of private nursing home beds, although they had, in principle, an entitlement to a public bed,” it said in a statement.
However, there had been insufficient numbers of public beds to meet the demand.
The State was forced by a 2004 Supreme Court ruling to repay the illegal charges it imposed on public patients.
Age Action chief executive Robin Webster said it was, in effect, "the most prolonged case of financial elder abuse by the State. If people were entitled to a public bed then they should not be forced to take a sub-vented bed or have to pay the full cost of a private bed".
Mr Webster said his organisation was anxious to see clarity about the eligibility and entitlements of older people.
Nursing Homes Ireland said it had highlighted the previously "inequitable" system of nursing home provision where "the government discriminated between people in public and private nursing homes in terms of what they were prepared to pay for care".
Chief executive Tadhg Daly said: "While we have not, as yet, had an opportunity to examine the report in detail, our initial reaction is that it highlights a very important issue.
“It is an issue that is continuing even under the Nursing Home Support Scheme (Fair Deal) because private nursing homes are still required to provide care under this scheme at a rate far lower than public nursing homes. In fact, private nursing homes are, on average, 50 per cent cheaper than public nursing homes.”