Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to welcome this Bill. It is a resolution of sorts to what has been fundamental unfairness in the so-called fair deal scheme. It has affected farming families, in particular. In capping the contributions at three years as they relate to family farms, the scheme now essentially reflects the reality that in many cases, family farms are extensions of the family homes rather than a speculative asset that is hoarded or treated as a business or other type of asset. That is most important.

My regret, which I believe is shared by many in this House, is that we are so late in bringing the legislation to this point. My fundamental regret is that the people who have highlighted this anomaly and campaigned for changes in the legislation will not get the benefit of it. Those people who have been in nursing home care for more than three years will not receive a rebate. I appeal to all parties to work as hard as possible and explore every avenue with a view to finding a legal basis by which the issue can be resolved so that those people can get their payments back. Undoubtedly, if that is not the case, farm holdings will be lost to families who simply do have the resources to pay the nursing home care bill.

While the resolution makes the fair deal scheme fairer, it still does not make it an entirely fair deal. In bringing this Bill to Committee Stage, I urge all parties to reflect on the stories that we have heard from our constituencies and ensure that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.

It is a good opportunity for us to reflect on how we deal with legislation that comes before the House, particularly from Departments that may not have an explicit responsibility for rural communities. The difficulty with the original legislation is that it was adopted without any consideration as to what it might mean for farm families. We are only now getting to the point where that is being addressed. The Deputies will be aware that Sinn Féin has been trying to pass what is referred to as "rural equality legislation" in this House since 2015. Most recently, the Sinn Féin Deputy for the Roscommon-Galway constituency, Deputy Kerrane, brought legislation before the House that is designed to essentially ensure that every Bill passed is "rural-proofed", for want of a better term. It involves assessing what the legislation might mean, and what its implications might be, for the rural communities that we know are struggling in many ways. In the past, this legislation has been opposed by both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I encourage Members to work with us to ensure that that Bill can be brought through this House and passed to make sure that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.

I also support Deputy Munster's call for focus to be placed on addressing anomalies in nursing home care. We need to move to a point where we actually have publicly-provided nursing home care. Just like all other forms of healthcare, nursing home care should not be driven by motivations of profit; rather it should be considered to be a fundamental part of our healthcare system.

See this speech in context