Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will first talk about the Bill and then nursing homes. I welcome the Bill, which introduces a three-year cap on the financial contributions of family-owned and operated farms or businesses when calculating the cost of nursing home care. The cap applies where a family successor commits to working the farm or business continually for a minimum of six years and commits to working the farm or business not less than 50% of their normal working time. The family successor must also have worked on the farm or business for three out of the previous five years.

Commonly known as the "fair deal", the nursing homes support scheme, established in 2009, is a system of financial support for those in need of long-term nursing home care. Under the scheme, a financial assessment is carried out by the HSE to determine how much each applicant will contribute to the cost of their care. Participants contribute up to 80% of their assessable income and up to 7.5% per annum of the value of any assets held towards the cost of their care, although a participant's principal residence is only included in the financial assessment for the first three years they are in nursing home care, regardless of how long they spend in care. Anyone who is ordinarily resident in the State and needs long-term nursing home care can apply for the scheme.

Where an individual's assessed weekly contribution is greater than the cost of care, they do not qualify for financial support. Therefore, applicants with substantial assets or incomes are unlikely to qualify for financial support. The capital value of an individual's primary private residence is only included for the first three years of a resident's time in care. This is known as the three-year cap. However, to date, the three-year cap has only applied to family farms or businesses in cases where a farmer or business owner suffers a sudden illness or disability and, as a result, requires nursing-home care. When the three-year cap does not apply, this can result in financial pressures on these families and could challenge the future viability of the farm or business. Introducing a three-year cap on the financial contributions of family farms or businesses will help protect the sustainability of family farms and businesses that will be passed down to the next generation. The changes have been long-awaited and will bring relief to many families.

The maximum contribution, based on the capital value of a farm or business, will be 7.5% per annum for three years only, provided that all the conditions of the scheme are complied with. The current system sees farm families and business owners required to set aside 7.5% of the value of their land annually to fund a place in a nursing home. This means the family farm could be lost to the next generation after 14 years as it would drain the value of the farm to pay for the care of a family member in a nursing home.

Many older people were not going into care out of fear that the farm will not be there to hand on to the next generation. This should not happen. I am relieved this new legislation will resolve the situation. Care must remain accessible and affordable, including for those families with a farm or a business. Many of those with farms and businesses have worked extremely hard to build their business from the ground and they employ local people in the area. They deserve this additional safeguard to protect the sustainability of family farms and businesses.

It is important that we protect our older generation as much as any other citizens. Many families are grieving at the moment. The bottom line is that they simply want to know what will happen to loved ones. I am glad there will be an inquiry. It has gone on a long time and there has been a lot of bad publicity for nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic. In fairness, some deserve it, but some do not. Given my experience as a Deputy for the past ten or 11 years, I have nothing but respect for nursing homes.

My mother was in a nursing home for three years and the staff, management and everyone involved in the nursing home did a fantastic job. It is very important that the nursing homes that abused, or whatever they did to these residents, are held accountable. I have visited many nursing homes in my own town of Dundalk. They and the families want closure. I appeal to the Minister of State on this, as it is very important.

We must also mention the HSE. When it came to equipment for the nursing homes, they were left wanting. The HSE really let the nursing homes and the families down, and the nursing homes feel that themselves, and I hope the investigation also looks into the HSE's performance. The nursing homes in Dundalk have done really well but when it came to getting food delivered, some small businesses in the town actually refused to go to the nursing homes. That is not right.

Many families are grieving, which I know from my town of Dundalk. They have lost their mothers, fathers, uncles and aunts and they just want answers. This is going on for more than 12 months. I ask the Minister of State once again to look into it.

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