The Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children will today question special advisers to the former minister for health Micheál Martin on whether they told him about legal opinion which suggested that charges levied on patients in public nursing homes were illegal.
Deirdre Guillane and Christopher Mannion attended a meeting in the Gresham Hotel in December 2003 at which legal opinion obtained by the South Eastern Health Board, which suggested that the charges were illegal, was discussed.
The meeting decided that the issue should be referred to the Attorney General. However, it transpired in the official Travers report on the controversy last month that the letter seeking legal opinion from the Attorney General was never sent.
Opposition deputies will today question the advisers on whether they ever told the minister of the legal opinion obtained by the health board. Mr Martin has denied that he knew anything about the issue.
Fine Gael health spokesman Dr Liam Twomey will today also question the two advisers on an internal Department of Health memo which indicates that the former minister was considering plans for legislation governing the nursing home area as far back as February 2000, just weeks after his appointment.
The memo, which has been seen by The Irish Times, indicates that following a meeting with senior officials in the Department of Health on February 22nd, 2000, Mr Martin wanted to bring forward a composite bill giving legal effect to increases in the threshold for the Drug Payment Scheme as well as "changes to the Tobacco Bill and Nursing Home legislation".
Dr Twomey said last night that he would be asking the advisers, one of whom attended the meeting referred to in the internal memo, what precise changes were being sought by the minister to the nursing home legislation in early 2000.
Meanwhile, the committee is understood to be considering calling senior officials of the Department of Health as part of the next phase of its investigations into the controversy.
The committee will decide later today on who should be called. However, informed sources said it may consider calling the Department of Health officials who gave conflicting evidence to the Travers report on whether the file containing the letter seeking legal advice from the Attorney General had been seen at one stage in Mr Martin's outer office.
Department of Health officials may also be called to provide background details on the legislation in 2001 which provided medical cards to everyone over 70 regardless of means.
