Government to change how farms treated under Fair Deal scheme

A proposal to change the treatment of farms and businesses under the Fair Deal scheme has been approved by the Government.

A 2015 review of the scheme, officially known as the Nursing Home Support Scheme, committed to reviewing how productive assets are treated. The Government also committed to removing discrimination against small business and family farms.

Currently, people using the scheme contribute up to 80 per cent of their income and up to 7.5 per cent of the value of any assets held towards their cost of care.

The value of a person’s home is only included in the financial assessment for the first three years of their time in a care.

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The changes will extend this three year cap to farms and businesses where a family successor continues to operate the farm or business for six years.

Minister of State with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People Jim Daly said the changes would allow individuals to "continue to run the family business without the fear of losing it".

Nursing Homes Ireland chief executive Tadhg Daly said the changes provide a "greater level of fairness" for users of the scheme.

“However a review of the pricing mechanism, which is critical to how the scheme operates and is fundamental to ensuring it is appropriate for meeting the care needs of people who require nursing home care, remains outstanding,” he said.