Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In many cases, there may have been a prolonged period of ill-health or inaction on the part of the person in the nursing home which may have severely impacted on his or her ability to keep the capital resources intact or to expect that payments could be made in sufficient order to meet the requirements, given that the capacity of the farm or business may have diminished before a successor was appointed, making the situation more difficult. I am sure the Minister of State has already dealt with that but it needs to be borne in mind.