THE TAOISEACH was called on to clarify the apparent contradiction between the statement by Minister for Health Dr James Reilly and the Health Service Executive (HSE) over the €100 million extra that would now be put into the Fair Deal scheme.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said the Minister had stated that the problem was that “the HSE had used the €100 million for other purposes” but the “HSE has stated the total budget available to it for providing long-term residential care has always been and will continue to be used exclusively for the care of older people resident in nursing homes”.

Mr Adams said there was a “contradictory and confused picture” and it was “extremely worrying that €100 million could be used for purposes for which it had not been allocated”.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said it was “my understanding that €100 million of the €1 billion allocated for the Fair Deal scheme was spent on other items. The Minister has commissioned an inquiry in order to determine within two weeks what exactly happened. All the money is for the care of elderly people but it must come from different subheads.” He pointed out the scheme was “budget-capped” and of the 22,600 people in long-term resident care over 11,000 were in the Fair Deal scheme.