There are no guarantees at this stage that the refunds to elderly people who were illegally charged for nursing home care will not impact on their pension entitlements, it has emerged.
The Department of Social and Family Affairs said yesterday that its officials, as well as officials at the Department of Health, were aware the repayments might have implications for recipients of old-age non-contributory pensions. This pension is affected by change of means.
Anyone with savings of less than €12,697.38 at present will qualify for a full non-contributory old-age pension. This figure will rise to €20,000 in June.
Above this threshold, applicants for the pension are means-tested and may qualify for a lesser pension payment.
A person who has been in a public nursing home and who has had their pension illegally deducted to pay for their care could now be due rebates of up to €6,000 for each year they have spent in the nursing home as a result of the recent Supreme Court judgment. This could push up their savings and result in their pension entitlements being cut back.
A Cork man concerned about this possibility has written in recent days to the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mr Brennan, and the Minister for Health, Ms Harney, appealing for the nursing home rebates to be disregarded when pension entitlements are being calculated.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Social and Family Affairs said no decision had yet been made on whether the rebates would affect pensions. "This hasn't really been discussed in any great detail," she said.
Mr Paul Murray of Age Action Ireland said it would be grossly unfair of the State to take the rebates into account when calculating pensions.
"It would be anomalous if an old frail person was to have reduced weekly payment because of this money being refunded. It should be treated like if your prize bond comes up - non-taxable - or like a court award. which is also non taxable," he said.