Mr. Karl Duff:

The average length of stay for those in long-term care who receive financial support from the NHSS is three years, which has come down substantially from the figure for the previous subvention scheme. A number of people are still on previous arrangements so the average time for people who are only on the new scheme would, I imagine, be slightly less than three years. As for who will be affected by this amendment, the HSE captures quite high-level information on the people coming in and the nature of their assets, specifically their interest in productive farm and business assets, and there are some 700 people in the NHSS with a farm asset at the moment. A total of 23,300 people are being supported under the fair deal scheme and that represents approximately 3%, which is along the lines of the representation of the general population. If we take out the people who are currently availing of the sudden illness provision, there will be an immediate impact. People in long-term care under fair deal, and who have an interest in a farm or business asset and have been in the scheme for in excess of three years, will be immediately impacted and they will be able to avail of the cap if they nominate the family successor and meet the conditions.