Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly has hit out at the HSE and the Department of Health today for their treatment of elderly people in long-term care.
Giving details of a report on nursing homes, which has yet to be published, she said the health service has a deliberate policy to confuse elderly people about their rights and entitlements.
The report states that in a large number of cases, old people moved into private nursing homes, when neither they, nor their families could really afford to pay for it.