Daly: I never knew of nursing home cases

FORMER Junior Health Minister Jim Daly has told The Southern Star that he had ‘no knowledge whatsoever’ of the government’s controversial strategy to avoid refunding nursing home payments to medical card holders.

The government is currently under the spotlight for its legal strategy on nursing home back-payments.

Many medical card holders were unaware that they may not have needed to make the payments, which were sought by the government, over a 30-year period.

A number of former health ministers were this week queried on how much they knew about the legal strategy, which forced members of the public to engage in lengthy lawsuits – if they could afford to.

‘I never heard sight nor sound of any of it,’ the former politician, who was a Minister of State in the Department of Health from 2017 to 2020, told The Southern Star.

The former FG TD, who hails from Drinagh outside Skibbereen, is currently chief executive of the Private Hospitals Association (PHA).

Mr Daly also said no constituent ever approached him about seeking redress. 

‘Nobody ever came to me looking for anything on this,’ he said.