Mr. Niall Redmond:

The scheme does not undermine that in any sense. To qualify for the cap, one must have a family member who is working the farm. The basic policy objective is to protect situations where the family farm is passed on to the next generation to work the land and to avoid the uncertainty of an open-ended contribution towards nursing home fees. What we have proposed addresses that.

If people for whatever reason do not want to or cannot work their land, there is an opportunity to transfer that asset in good time and have it in someone else's productive use. The scheme does not undermine that. An important aspect is how it presents people with a range of choices about how to manage their land and affairs. We must also consider the scheme in a broader context than just farm and business assets. If we make it the case that one could have any asset, be one working or not-----