Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I take the opportunity to endorse and support the motion. The fair deal nursing homes scheme provides great assistance and professional care for many older people and their families. Unfortunately, the current form of the scheme is creating uncertainty and anxiety among many farm families and small business owners. The vagueness created by the potentially uncapped liability on the assessment of farm assets and the treatment of income generating assets on the family farm has serious ramifications for many farmers.

Family farms form the backbone of our rural economy and perform a vital role in providing employment and the future development of rural Ireland. There is genuine fear among young farmers who have inherited the family farm that should something happen to a parent within a five-year period, which means they would require nursing home care, the viability of the farm business may be undermined or lost while trying to meet the cost of that care.

Under the current guidelines, any assets transferred from one generation to another, that is from father or mother to son or daughter, within a five-year period is still considered a chargeable asset should the father or mother require nursing home care. The fact a successor to the family farm can be held liable for nursing home costs if the asset was transferred within the past five years is causing real difficulties for many people. The potential effect of the fair deal scheme is not limited to young farmers. The IFA conducted studies on the average suckler farmer of pension age and found the income from the farm as against the liability for nursing home care left a huge deficit that had to be dealt with by the young farmer.

The Government should recognise this is a problem. It should also recognise that in the programme for Government it has committed to dealing with the issue. The potential financial burden is causing distress and anxiety to many farm families in County Tipperary. I have first-hand examples of this in my constituency. The rules and regulations at present are unfair and unjust. The anomalies in the regulations are well known and accepted as fact. After years of evaluation, assessment and agonising it is time for action to remedy the problems. The motion before the House identifies the faults and recommends solutions. We call on the Government to take immediate constructive positive steps to rectify the failings in the fair deal scheme and end the uncertainty and the financial exposure for many farm families in rural Ireland.

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