The Cabinet approved changes to the Fair Deal scheme for farms and small businesses with legislation hoped for by end of 2019.
People using the scheme contribute up to 80% of their income and up to 7.5% 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 care so only up to 22.5% of the family home is used as a contribution. Currently, this three-year cap does not apply to assets such as farms and businesses so the farm/business is included in the financial assessment for the entire period in the nursing home. The proposal is to extend the three-year limit to farms and businesses where a family successor continues to operate it for six years.
The Fair Deal scheme is operated by the HSE and details of this are available here.
