Opposition parties have welcomed the President's decision to call a meeting of the Council of State to examine legislation requiring elderly people to pay some of their nursing home bills.
The emergency legislation was produced after the Attorney General, Mr Rory Brady, warned that deductions from pensions for nursing home care were not lawful under existing law.
Labour's health spokeswoman, Ms Liz McManus, welcomed the decision adding that her party wrote to the President on Friday recommending such a move.
"Immediately following the conclusion of the debate on the Bill in the Seanad on Friday last, I wrote to the Office of the President setting out grounds for the President's consideration as to whether a meeting of the Council should be convened," she said.
"In my contribution to the Dáil debate I pointed out that the legal advice available to the Labour Party was that there were serious doubts about the constitutionality of the measure and particularly the fact that the Bill proposes to impose a retrospective liability on a substantial number of mainly elderly people.
"I hope that having listened to the advice of the Council of State the resident will conclude that it is appropriate to now refer the Bill to the Supreme Court."
Accusing the Government of rushing important legislation, Fine Gael TD Mr Liam Twomey welcomed the President's move. "I hope that they are seriously going to discuss this. It flew in and flew out of the Oireachtas."
Mr Twomey criticised the Government's offer of an ex-gratia payment of €2,000 to pensioners without establishing how much they were actually owed.
"This was an illegal charge and I think patients are entitled to get costs back," Mr Twomey said.
The President has called only three previous meetings of the Council of State - which renders "aid and counsel" at her request - to offer advice on the constitutionality of legislation.